Past Present
by Tomboycountrygirl10
Summary: Egoshipping: Who would've thought that something from the past would make its way back to you. Well Misty never expected it. Life has changed and childhood friends reunite as Gary & Misty figure out what's between them. What the heck will happen?...R&R!
1. Looking Back

**Disclaimer:** i don't own Pokemon or the characters in it

Looking Back

**Past: **

Misty- 9

Ash- 9

Gary- 10

Prof. Oak- 52

Ms. Ketchum/Delia/Ms. K (I switch between these names)- 27

Daisy- 15

Violet- 13

Lily- 12

**Present:**

Misty- 16

Ash- 16

Gary- 17

Prof. Oak- 59

Ms. K (ect.)- 34

Daisy- 22

Violet- 20

Lily- 19

''talking''

_'thinking'_

* * *

It was a sunny day. The sky as blue as the ocean, the sun as bright as a sunflower; birds were chirping and the trees swaying…who would have thought that the day would be filled with surprising events. I never did, but then again I never thought it would affect my life so much in the most unexpected ways.

7 years ago- Park in Cerulean City

"Gary, wait up!"

"Ha! You're such a slowpoke!"

"Am not!"

"Are to! I bet you I can run backwards and you still won't be able to catch up Ashy-boy."

"Oh ya, prove it!"

Gary turned around and started running backwards. Once Gary knew he had it he looked at Ash with an 'I-told-you-so' smirk.

"Ha! I win!"

BAM

The next thing Gary knew he hit something and fell down onto his back.

"Ouch…what the heck?"

Gary tried to sit up; he tried to use his arms to support himself but when he put his hands on the ground something felt a little off.

"Uh, Gary." Ash said as he finally caught up to Gary.

"What?" Gary arched an eyebrow as he saw his friend pointing to something.

"Excuse me!"

"Huh?" Gary looked down to see he was somewhat sitting on a girl. She had fiery orange hair in a side ponytail, wore a yellow tank top and aqua blue shorts. Gary also noticed her eyes were an aquamarine color but instead of looking like a calming stream of water her eyes reflected a roaring tsunami. That's when Gary noticed it.

"Wow, you're pretty flat."

SNAP

'_Huh, snap?' _

"GET OFF!" the girl yelled as she pushed Gary as hard as she could off of her.

"Geez, can't ya take a joke Pumpkin Head?" Gary asked now sitting on the ground looking up at the mad redhead.

"PUMPKIN HEAD! Why you." The girl seethed as her face turned red.

"Um hey, are you alright?" Ash interrupted

"Huh, um, yeah I'm ok." The girl said calmly with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Hey what about me?"

"I'm sorry about that. We were having a race so I guess we weren't paying attention, heh." Ash said ignoring Gary

"Um, no, it's alright. I wasn't paying much attention either."

"Well, my names Ash and he's Gary." Ash said with a goofy grin and gestured back towards his friend.

"Misty."

"Misty? But it's a sunny day." Ash said looking confused

"OW!" Ash grabbed his head that had just been hit.

"No you idiot. Her name is Misty."

"Huh?" Ash looked at Misty

"Oh! S-sorry!"

"It's alright." Misty smiled

"So Misty, I'm guessin you live around here." Gary smirked

"So?" Misty said with a look that said to 'back-off'.

"Great! Then you can treat us to some ice cream Pumpkin Head." Gary said as he grabbed Misty by the wrist and dragged her along.

"Hey, let go! I'm not treating **you** to ice cream." Misty said annoyed and trying to free her wrist.

"Come on Pumpkin Head, you should know that the guest never pays." Gary grinned goofily.

"STOP CALLIN ME PUMPKIN HEAD!"

"Ya, ya; hurry up Ashy-boy or we'll eat all the ice cream without ya!"

"Wait up Gary! I'm coming!" Ash exclaimed trying to catch up to Gary and Misty.

Outside the Ice Cream Shop

"Man that was some good ice cream!"

"Ya it was, but you didn't have to eat mine too." Ash pouted.

"Hey I was helping you, it's not like you could eat all that Ashy-boy."

"Hey where do you think **you're** going?"

"Huh?" Ash and Gary turned around to face an annoyed Misty.

"Oh, Pumpkin Head, what's up?" Gary smirked

"You. You owe me $4.50." Misty said as she jabbed her finger into Gary's chest.

"Heh, you're the one who said you'd pay, Pumpkin Head." _'And would you quite poking me, geez what are you? A Primeape?'_ Gary thought as he rubbed his chest.

"NO I DIDN'T!"

"No I didn't." Gary mimicked

"Ugh, you're such a bully!" Misty yelled

"Tch, whatever Pumpkin Head. OW!" Gary yelled grabbing his head and turning around towards Misty, who stuck out her tongue.

"Why you…" Gary said as he balled up his hand.

"Serves you right!" Misty smirked for winning the 'battle'.

"Grrr, why I oughta-"

"Gary, Ash, there you are!"

"Professor Oak!" Ash yelled excitedly running to the Professor

"Gramps?" Gary turned around surprised and worried what his grandpa might do to him

"Ah, I knew it was you two." Prof. Oak said as he came closer to the group of kids.

"G-Gramps, what are you doin here?" Gary stuttered a little freaked out.

"What am I doing here?" Prof. Oak asked calmly arching an eyebrow.

"GARY BRYSON OAK, I have been looking for you and Ash since you both decided to 'explore'!"

"Bwahahahaha! Gary Bryson Oak. So that's your name? Hahahaha!"

"SHUT UP PUMPKIN HEAD!" Gary yelled back

"I told you. My name is Misty, and don't you forget it!"

BAM

"OW!" Gary rubbed his head

"Why you tomboy." Gary seethed

"Misty? Ah Misty, I was hoping to meet you." Prof. Oak said as he pulled Gary by his shirt behind him.

"Huh?" Misty gave a puzzled look

"Oh, silly me. My name is Professor Oak of Pallet Town. You've already met my grandson Gary and his friend Ash I see."

"Um, ya, but how do you know my name?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I knew I was forgetting something. I'm an old friend of you parents."  
"Really?" Misty asked with a questionable look.

"Yes, infact I just came from your gym. It seems Gary and Ash weren't the only ones who went missing." Prof. Oak grinned as Misty showed a face that she had just been caught.

"Well now, how bout I take you three back to the gym?"

"What? No way Gramps, there's nothing to do in that big stinky fish tank!"

"What do you mean 'big stinky fish tank?"

"Heh, I think you know exactly what I mean, Pumpkin Head." Gary smirked

"Grrr, I told you never to CALL ME THAT!" Misty screamed as she went to hit Gary.

"Whatcha gonna do bout it Pumpkin Head!" Gary yelled back as he went to fight Misty when suddenly… "Whoa! Hey-wh…Gramps! Let Go!"

"Oh no you don't Gary. You should know better than to get into a fight with a girl." Prof. Oak said as he carried Gary under his arm.

"Now come along children. Don't need to keep everyone waiting." Prof. Oak said as he led Misty and Ash along to the Cerulean City Gym with Gary still under his arm.

At the Cerulean Gym

"Ash, Gary! Where have you two been? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Delia Ketchum said as she went to hug the two boys.

"Geh…Mom…you're-choking, me…"

"Ms. K…watch the hair…"

Ash and Gary said as they were given a big bear hug.

"OW!" the boys both yelled in unison after being hit in the head

"You two should know better than to run off like you did." Ms. K said sternly

"Sorry Mom."

"Sorry Ms. K."

"*sigh, well at least you two found Misty too." Ms. K said as she turned to Misty.

"Misty dear, I'm Ms. Ketchum, but you can call me Delia. I'm Ash's mom and a friend of your parents."

"Um…nice to meet you but why are you here?" Misty asked questionably.

"Well you see Misty, I'm conducting some research on water Pokémon and since the Cerulean Gym is a water Pokémon gym, I came here to do my some of my work." Prof. Oak explained.

"Is that so? Well I guess I should tell you this too-" Misty started

"MISTY! Like where did you go! Do you like know how long we've been like searching for you?" Daisy said as she ran and bent down to hug her littlest sister.

"Searching for me? Whatever!" Misty argued as she pushed away from Daisy's hug.

"Well of course. You are our little sister after all."

"Ya, Misty, you like had us worried sick." Violet came in sarcastically.

"Like totally. We missed our shows because of you." Lily joined in in Violet's ranting.

"Violet, Lily that's enough!" Daisy turned around and scolded her younger sisters.

"See, like I said, whatever." Misty said as she stormed off to where her Pokémon were.

"Like Misty, wait!" Daisy pleaded

"See what you two did, again. Geez, when will you guys grow up?" Daisy yelled towards Violet and Lily, obviously frustrated.

"What do you mean grow up? You're not that much older than us!" Lily yelled back

"Calm down, all three of you. You're all family; you shouldn't be fighting like this." Prof. Oak sternly said as he intervened on the Cerulean sisters.

"Yes dears, Prof. Oak is right. This isn't the time to be like this." Ms. Ketchum added trying to calm the girls.

"Ash, Gary, why don't the both of you go find Misty and play with some of the Pokémon. I'm sure you'll be able to see some interesting Pokémon." Ms. K. cheerfully said as she turned to the boys.

"Sure, Mom!"

"Fine Ms. K., but you owe me if the Pumpkin Head does anything weird to me." Gary smirked as he ran off to where Misty had gone to.

"Wait for me, Gary!" Ash yelled as he ran after Gary, again.

The boys finally found Misty, or at least Gary did. She was outside in the courtyard that separated the main house from the gym sitting near a pond that was cleverly placed in the middle and filled with little water Pokémon. One of the Pokémon, a Seel it seemed, was above the surface of the pond and letting Misty pet its head. But Gary noticed that it wasn't Misty being playful, but the Seel consoling a sadden Misty.

"Hey Waterflower, you cryin or what?" Gary stated as he snuck up behind Misty.

"WAH! You, what are you still-"

SPLASH

"Wow...d-didn't...see that coming! Hahahaha!" Gary said as he fell back laughing at Misty, who was now swimming in pond water.

"Ha-ha. Now how about you help me out you jerk."

"Hahaha, su-sure…why noooot!" Gary yelled as he was pulled in the water by Misty.

Now the site was even funnier to Misty because after pulling the boy and his perfectly spiked hair in the pond, the hair now became a bunch of mini spikes falling down and covering the boy's face. The new look seemed to make him look more boyish than before, and idiotic.

"Bwahahahahahaha! Now** that's** funny!

"Oh ya? Then how about this?" Gary then splashed a bunch of water at Misty and kept on splashing.

"S-stop…it…Hey…I said…stop!" Misty pleaded as she tried to speak through the splashes of water. Finally the splashing came to a stop.

"Heh, had enough?" smirked Gary

"You wish." Misty smirked evilly as Gary soon realized what was about to happen.

"Take this!" Misty began to splash water back at Gary laughing all the while.

However, instead of hearing cries of pleads there was silence which caused Misty to stop.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Misty looked around but saw nothing but her Pokémon enjoying the nice cool water. Then she started to see bubbles coming from the water near her.

"What the?" Misty arched an eyebrow

"GOT YA!" Gary yelled excitedly as he came up from under the water and dragged Misty back down with him. The two were under the water for awhile, somewhat fighting but came back up to the surface to get some air.

"…that…was…a lot of…fun…huh, Pumpkin Head…?" Gary panted in between speaking, trying to catch his breath as he and Misty climbed out of the pond and onto the dry ground.

"…I said…don't…call me…Pumpkin…Head…" Misty panted as well as she lay on her back. Gary turned to her and smirked, but it wasn't the kind of smirk Misty had seen earlier on in the day. It was a smirk that seemed to show a sweeter side to the obnoxious boy, almost a smile. Which caused Misty to slightly blush for just a few seconds.

'_What the heck am I thinking? EW!'_ Misty shook her head of the disgusting thought she just had. Gary just raised and eyebrow at what Misty was doing.

"Hey, you al-"

"There you guys are!" Ash interrupted as he ran up to Misty and Gary

"Geez, I was looking all over the place….Hey why are you guys all wet?" Ash now asked as he then noticed his two friends' odd appearance.

"Gary, is that you?" Ash bent down to try to see his friend's face.

"What do you think Ashy-boy?" Gary snapped back

"Okay, it's you." Ash sweat-dropped as he backed away

"Well I don't know about you but I'm gonna go-"

"Gary, Misty, what did you two do?" Ms. K. yelled shocked at the two children's appearance.

"Nothing, just playin around Ms. K., just like you wanted us to." Gary said coolly as he was now standing.

"I DIDN'T MEAN THIS!"

"Ms. K. it's alright. We're not hurt or anything." Misty said trying to calm Ms. K. down

"*sigh, that's not the point. You two could catch a cold. Now both of you come with me, it's getting late and I don't want you both going to bed with pond water all over you." Ms. K. said as she grabbed both children by the wrist and dragged them into the main house towards the bathroom.

"Ash you head to the lab and tell Prof. Oak that I'll be taking care of these two, will you please Sweetie?" Ms. K. asked but all three of the children knew it was more of a demand.

"Uh, sure Mom. I got it." Ash said as he made his way back towards the gym and to the lab.

"Now you to come with me and lets get you cleaned up."

"But Ms. K. I'm a guy. There's no way I'm gonna share a bath with her!"

"Yeah! Why do I have to be stuck with him? I can take care of myself!" Misty added

"SHUSH! Of course you both won't be sharing the same bath! But you still need to be cleaned. Now hurry up! We don't want to be late for dinner." Ms. K. said as she faced forward once more still dragging the two children, but with less force, along. Both Gary and Misty however had a freaked out face after Ms. Ketchum's outburst and decided to never get on her bad side again.

In the Bathroom

"Geez Gary, how could you both get all wet like that in such a short time? All I said was to play with Misty not go swimming." Ms. K. said shaking her head, as she hung up Gary's wet clothes on the towel rack and placed his new set of clothes on the sink.

"It was an accident Ms. K. honest." Gary said as he turned off the water, wrapped a towel around him and stepped out of the shower.

"I know, but what if something had happened? *sigh, I'm a mother, what do you expect?" Ms. K. calmly, but jokingly, said as she knelt down with a towel in her hands and dried Gary's hair.

"And I'm a kid, what do you expect?" Gary joked back with a childish smile on his face.

"*giggle, alright you got me on that one. Now hurry and put your clothes on. I'm gonna go make sure Misty's alright." Ms. K. said as she started walking out of the bathroom to let Gary get dressed in private.

"Right." Gary said as he started to put his dry clothes on.

Meanwhile, Misty was in her room putting on a red t-shirt with a yellow lightning bolt in the middle of it. She had a pair of yellow shorts to match and decided to go barefoot the rest of the day. But her hair was still wet and down, which was when Ms. K. walked in with a fresh towel in hand and came behind Misty and wrapped the top of her head in the towel.

"There, now you're all clean and dry." Ms. K. smiled as she looked down at the little girl.

"Thank you Ms. K." Misty smiled back but looking up at the woman.

"Mhmm, you know Ms. K. seems to be more suited for Gary to call me, so how bout you call me Delia? I don't mind." Ms. K. smiled again as she grabbed a brush and started detangling Misty's fiery, short, orange hair.

"Ok Delia!" Misty cheerfully said as she handed Delia a rubber band to hold back her hair.

"So Misty, how have you been?"

"Eh, alright I guess." Misty shrugged

"*giggle, really, well how are things between you and your sisters then?"

"Hmpf, they care more about their shows and shopping. In case you didn't notice from earlier." Misty said as she remembered what had happened not to long ago.

"Misty I know it seems that way, but whenever you and the boys were gone they were really worried about you, especially Daisy." Delia said showing concern in her voice as she continued to brush Misty's hair.

"…"

"All right, but just wait, I'm sure as you get older you'll start to notice it." Delia contently said.

"I'm sure." Misty said a bit sarcastically.

"All right I don't need the tone."

"Sorry."

"It's alright. Now what do you think of Ash and Gary?" Delia said more cheerfully

"Ash is really nice! He's way better than that Gary jerk."

"Well that's surprising; it seemed to me that you and Gary were getting along quite well." Delia said a bit confused about the relationship between Gary and Misty, but still glad that she and Ash seemed to get along well.

"In what way, he won't leave me alone and keeps calling me names!" Misty turned around after Delia finished putting her hair back to its usual side ponytail.

"Hehe, you know Misty boys tend to be mean to the girls they like." Delia chuckled as she saw the embarrassment on Misty's face.

"NO WAY! Never in a MILLION years!" Misty yelled grabbing her head with her hands and throwing her head back in disbelief.

"Alright, alright, it's just a guess Dear. That's all. Now let's go get Gary and go get some dinner." Delia said as she took Misty by her hand and led her towards where Gary was.

A few steps later, Delia took Gary by his hand and led all of them down the hall and to the dinning room where everyone was. Gary had on a black shirt with a picture of an Umbreon on the middle of it and a pair of purple cargo shorts that stopped right below the knees, and a pair of black socks that stopped right before the ankle. Not to mention his hair was back to its perfectly spiky self now. They met everyone just in time for dinner. Prof. Oak started to sit at one end of the table with a plain, red polo shirt on, khaki trousers, and dark brown socks (He and the rest left their shoes by the front door). He had put his lab coat in his room before joining everyone for dinner. Ash was wearing a white shirt with blue sleeves and red shorts, with white ankle socks. Of course he had already started putting food on his plate and was sitting on the left side of the table nearest the other end where his mom would soon sit. Ms. K. sat at the other end of the table across from Prof. Oak and had on a blue, knee length skirt and a light-blue fitted shirt on with a pink flower placed on the left side of her shirt, and went barefoot as well (along with the three older Cerulean sisters). Gary took his place near his grandpa on the same side as Ash. Daisy began to sit down in the middle of three seats on the right side. Daisy motioned for Lily to sit on the left side of her and for Violet to sit between the two boys. The three older sisters wore flowing skirts that stopped two inches above their knees. Daisy wore light pink, Violet wore lavender, and Lily wore a bright light yellow dress. With all the seats taken, Misty sat on the other side of Daisy and Prof. Oak…and unfortunately to her, right across from Gary. Soon everyone had filled their plates and started to chat with one another.

"Hey Pumpkin Head, where's your parents at? Work?" Gary asked as he filled his plate.

"Our parents are away for the moment, don't mind that." Daisy stated seriously

"Don't worry bout that matter Gary and eat your food." Prof. Oak said hinting to Gary, and Ash, to leave the subject alone.

"Okay?" Gary said as he arched an eyebrow but soon after started to eat his food.

"So Misty I heard you and Gary took a dip in the pond?" Prof. Oak chuckled as he took a forkful of mixed veggies in his mouth.

"No, Gary pushed me in." Misty said as she looked down at her plate and continued eating.

"Did not." Gary said plainly as he took a forkful of roasted chicken into his mouth.

"Did so."

"Did not."

"So."

"Not."

"Alright you two I get it, I get it." Prof. Oak said trying to calm the two down as he saw them look up from their plates about ready to start a food fight.

"Misty calm down, *and like watch your manners!" Daisy whispered the last part to Misty.

"Fine." Misty said giving up the "fight" and started eating again.

"So like how long do you all plane to stay?" Lily asked a bit curious.

"Oh, well we plan to leave tomorrow evening. I have a meeting back in Pallet the next morning." Prof Oak stated as he took a drink of his water.

"Aw man, I thought we were gonna stay longer!" Ash whined as he took a break from his plate full of half eaten food.

"Ash swallow first, then speak." Delia said as she grimaced at her son's eating habits.

"*gulp, why are we leavin so soon?" Ash asked now able to speak without food flying from his mouth.

"He said it earlier Ashy-boy, he has a meeting the next morning." Gary said as he took another bit of his chicken.

"Hey Ash why don't we hang out at the gym tomorrow. I'll show you all of my Pokémon!" Misty offered cheerfully.

"What like a date? Ha! Who would ever want to with you?" Gary teased

"OW! What the?" Gary felt his leg that had just been kicked and then looked at Misty who was still eating her food, unlike everyone else who asked what was wrong.

"You." Gary glared

"What?" Misty looked up from her plate playing innocent.

"Tch, whatever." Gary snubbed her and took a fork of food into his mouth.

"Well then it's like settled, all three of you will hang out in the gym tomorrow while, Ms. K. and Prof. Oak do what they need to do." Daisy stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, and what will the three of you be doing?" Misty asked pretty sure what her sisters were going to do.

"Well of course it's like to work on our ballet." Lily said excitedly

"Yeah, like we need to get better if we like ever want to do water ballet." Violet stated proudly.

"Fun." Misty said sarcastically

"Misty, like manners." Daisy reminded her littlest sister

"Yeah, Misty, manners." Gary taunted.

"OW!" Gary felt the back of his head and looked at his grandpa.

"Gary, watch your manners." Prof. Oak warned as he took a bit of his food.

"Yes, sir." Gary said obediently, but stubbornly.

"Now, how about dessert?" Ms. Ketchum interrupted as she walked in with a chocolate cake.

The dinner ended pretty well, if you exclude the fact that Gary and Misty were arguing with each other the whole time. After dinner everyone bid good night and went to their rooms. Ms. K. tucked the two boys in bed and gave both a kiss on the forehead good night. Prof. Oak headed back to the lab, saying he needed to finish some stuff before going to sleep. The four Cerulean sisters headed to their own bedrooms, except for Daisy who led Misty by the hand to her room to tuck her in. Ms. K. stayed up to wash the dishes even though Daisy said she shouldn't but reluctantly let her. Eventually everyone was asleep. Or so they all thought. Gary was asleep for about two hours when he finally woke up to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. However, while he was walking by the rest of the rooms Gary noticed a light coming from one of the doors that was slightly opened and heard voices coming from it.

'_What's going on? Why are the three older sisters of that munchkin talking to my Gramps and Ms. K?'_ Gary thought knowing to keep quiet as he hid by the door, making sure he wasn't seen as he tried to hear what they were talking about. The three older Waterflower sisters were all sitting on a pink bed. _'Probably Daisy's room.'_ Gary concluded. Prof. Oak was seated on a desk chair while Ms. Ketchum sat next to Violet who was crying on her shoulder.

"I know you four are going through a tough time right now, but this is when you should be leaning on each other for support, not bickering." Prof. Oak said with arms crossed as he sighed heavily.

"Like we know Professor, but we like just don't know what to do. Our lives are like completely different now." Daisy said as she held Lily in her arms making sure she didn't start crying like Violet.

"I know, but thankfully the Elite Four is taking care of all of you so that you won't be separated." Prof. Oak said

"Not to mention you get to keep the gym." Ms. K. added reassuringly

"That's true, but I-we…just don't know how to tell Misty all of this." Daisy sighed weakly as she looked at the floor.

'_Tell Misty what?'_ Gary began to wonder trying to piece the conversation together.

"You mean you still haven't told her about your parents?" Prof. Oak asked worriedly

"Girls you should tell her soon, she has the right to know." Prof Oak added as he sighed once again.

'_Her parents?'_ Gary arched an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall with his thinking face on as he started to piece everything together, but still listening incase of any more clues.

Daisy nodded agreeing with what Prof. Oak was saying.

"I know, *sigh. But not now, we'll tell her tomorrow after you guys leave. It would be easier that way." Daisy concluded as she looked at Lily.

"Right?" Daisy smiled

"Yeah." Lily said silently

"And we'll be there for one another right?" Daisy looked at Violet

"Right." Violet said rubbing her eyes and sitting up finally.

"We'll get through this together, and Mom and Dad will watch us along the way ok?" Daisy said more cheerfully, trying to encourage her sisters.

"Of course, we're like sisters after all." Violet said confidently, becoming her old self once again.

"That's the spirit." Ms. K. said clapping her hands together. Meanwhile Gary finally realized what was going on and decided to head back to bed before he was discovered.

'_Man, I can't believe it. Misty doesn't even know that her parents are gone? I mean gone, gone? Geez, I wonder how long since it happened?'_ Gary pondered as he climbed back into bed while Ash snored all the while.

'_Well it's not like she won't find out sooner or later. But good thing Ash didn't come or we would have been discovered, or worse, blabbed to Misty. Ya, it's better if I keep this secret for now. Maybe I should be a bit nicer tomorrow…Nah, that's too much, just be my amaaaazing self, that's what's best!'_ Gary thought as he started to fall asleep once more.

Next Day- Cerulean Gym

The day was just as perfect as the day before. Everything was peaceful on the outside. On the inside of the gym however, well that was another story. Gary and Ash had decided to have a Pokémon battle so they got Prof. Oak to help them acquire some Pokémon from home. Misty was mad at Gary because originally she wanted her and Ash to hang out, but instead ended up watching from the sidelines while ignoring Gary's side comments to her and instead cheering on Ash to "Beat that obnoxious JERK!" Finally the match was finished as Gary was the winner and Ash whining for a rematch.

"Come on Ashy-boy don't be a sore loser." Gary mocked.

"Shut up Gary! It's not fair, you got to pick the Pokémon you wanted first while I just got what was left." Ash continued whining

"Ash you shouldn't blame your Pokémon. The trainer is just as at fault." Gary said dead serious.

"Ash come on, there's always next time." Misty tried consoling Ash even though she wasn't that happy about him blaming his Pokémon.

"Fine, but next time I'm soooo gonna beat you!" Ash pointed at Gary as he got off the stage for where the trainers go to battle.

"So how bout it Pumpkin Head?" Gary motioned for Misty to come battle him next.

"How bout what?" Misty said never facing Gary

"You know what I mean Waterflower. Battle. You and me." Gary said tossing a poke-ball up into the air and catching it.

"You want to battle me?" Misty asked nonchalantly.

"Duh"

"Fine, but remember you asked for it." Misty said as she reached into her pocket as she made her way to the trainers' stage.

"Hmm, this should be interesting." Gary mumbled to himself.

Soon enough the battle was starting and Gary couldn't believe what had happened. The first victory went to Misty who easily beat his pokémon in less than five minutes. After realizing that Misty was a more tough opponent than Ash, like **way** more, Gary decided to take the battle more seriously. Luckily he said that it would be a three on three battle so he had a chance to make a come back. The battle lasted for what seemed like forever. Ash eventually fell asleep during the second match so he didn't see all that had happened. Gary taunted Misty whenever he could, but Misty countered with some witty comebacks. Of course name calling was involved in their "conversations". But the battle ended shocking Gary more than anyone, and Misty smirking. Gary didn't lose, but neither did Misty. Surprisingly enough, the battle resulted in a tie. The first match went to Misty, the second was a tie, and the third was won by Gary. Gary couldn't believe the result, and he most certainly couldn't believe how good Misty was, especially since she stuck to water pokémon the whole time.

"Never underestimate the power of water Pokémon, especially if the trainer is the daughter of the Cerulean Gym leader." Misty put her hands on her hips and winked, which caused Gary to blush, lucky for him though Misty was far way and paying attention to her Pokémon as she called it back inside its ball.

'_Dang it. S-she's really good. This is the first time someone actually beat or even tied with me. Not to mention she actually looked c-cute.'_ Gary blushed even harder as he admitted that to himself. _'WAAH! WHAT AM I THINKING!' _Gary shook his head as he soon noticed his name being called.

"Gary, geez, this is the sixth time I've called your name. What the heck's the matter with you?" Misty asked as she stood next to Ash who started to wake up because of Misty's yelling.

"Huh? Oh, nothing sorry." Gary said as he took control of himself once again and made his way over to Ash and Misty.

"Well how'd it go?" Ash asked as he yawned the question.

"Tch, if you can't stay awake long enough to watch why should we tell you?" Gary said annoyed.

"Huh? What happened?" Ash asked more puzzled

"Well you see-" Misty said happy to tell Ash the result of the battle

"Let's go Pumpkin Head, you said you were going to show us the other battle arena, remember?" Gary said as he grabbed Misty with his arm, covering her mouth in the process.

"Mmpf!" Misty tried speaking as she tried to wrestle free from Gary.

"Hey wait for me!" Ash took off once again trying to catch up to Gary, and now Misty. Somehow though, Ash got lost along the way. Leaving both Gary and Misty alone.

"Geez, who would of thought that Ashy-boy would get lost so easily."

"It's your fault Oak." Misty said as she walked slowly in the aquarium hallway.

"Hmm, this is kinda cool. You can see all the Pokémon you got in here." Gary looked up and around with his hands in his pants' pocket as the Pokémon swam around.

"Mhmm, that's nice." Misty said not even really paying attention.

"Hey Pumpkin Head, you there?" Gary asked knocking his hand against Misty's forehead as if it was a door.

"Hey that hurt!" Misty yelled back, rubbing her forehead with her hands.

"Sorry, but you looked out of it." Gary said as he started walking down the hallway once again, but keeping with Misty's slow pace.

"Hmpf, you don't even know me." Misty glared up at Gary.

"And you don't know me, so we're even." Gary looked down at Misty. Even though he wasn't that much taller than her, they weren't exactly at eye level.

"Anyway what's with you and your sisters, I thought sisters were supposed to be all lovy and caring. And all that junk."

"They only care bout themselves and their stuff. They don't even bother telling me what's goin on." Misty said getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Hmm, like what?" Gary asked half listening, half looking at the Pokémon swimming by.

"Like the fact that my parents are dead." Misty said bluntly trying to hold back the tears that were creeping up.

"Huh, you knew?" Gary said shocked that Misty knew the secret everyone, except Ash, was keeping from her.

"What do you mean, 'you knew,' how'd you know?" Misty said now facing Gary, still holding back the tears.

"W-well, you see…I kinda heard your sisters and Ms. K. and Gramps talking bout it last night after we went to bed." Gary said worried about what might happen next.

"They told you, but not me?" Misty yelled about ready on the verge of a breakdown.

"H-hey calm down. They didn't tell me, I eavesdropped." Gary said trying to calm Misty down, seeing her aquamarine eyes turn a deep blue as if she were trapped in the middle of the sea.

"Waaaa-aa! *sniff, sniff. It's not…fair…Waaa!" Misty began balling bringing her hands up to her eyes to wipe away the tears.

"Hey…come on Pumpkin Head…Misty." Gary couldn't get Misty to calm down, even trying her own name. Which led Gary with his last resort, or at least the only other thing he could think of at that moment. He hugged her. He brought Misty's head to rest against his shoulder, rubbing her back with one hand as gently as he could and holding her head with the other. He whispered in her ear trying the best he could to consol her.

"It's gonna be okay. I'm here for you. Come on, where's that Pumpkin Head I met yesterday, huh? You're stronger than this, I know you are. Show me the Misty I battled awhile ago." Gary consoled as he stroked Misty's head as he brought her in closer to him. Eventually Misty's cries became whimpers, and soon stopped altogether as she broke from the hug.

"Th-thanks." Misty said looking down at the ground so Gary couldn't see her face.

"Um, ya, n-no problem." Gary said a bit unsure about what to do and embarrassed at the same time since he just hugged a girl, and a girl who completely confused him at that.

"But don't even mention what just happened got it!" Misty said back to her fiery self as she looked up at Gary glaring daggers at him, making sure he got the point to keep what just happened between them a secret.

"Well, duh, why would I want other's to know bout me hugging a Pumpkin Head like you?" Gary walked backed as he returned to his old self.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Misty yelled with both fists balled watching Gary walk farther down the hall.

"What do you think Pumpkin Head?" Gary turned back with a mock look on his face and smirk, but yet Misty noticed that there was something hidden behind that stupid smirk, something saying to trust him?

'_Yeah, right.'_ Misty rolled her eyes as she watched Gary start walking again and started walking herself.

Later that Day

The day went by pretty quickly. Ash was eventually found by Gary and Misty, turned out he somehow made his way over to the kitchen, figures. Ms. K. made sure everyone was packed and even did some laundry and meals for the Waterflower sisters, while Prof. Oak finished his last bit of work. Finally it was time to go back to Pallet.

"Well it was nice to see you girls after so long." Prof. Oak said as he bid goodbye to the four sisters.

"Like same here, although the last time you visited we were like still babies." Daisy said as she hugged Prof. Oak goodbye.

"Yeah like Misty wasn't even born yet!" Lily added as her and Violet hugged Prof. Oak.

"Well time does go by quickly." Ms. Ketchum chuckled as she hugged the three girls.

"Nice to meet you boys, hope you guys like had fun." Daisy said as the three girls knelt down at eye level to both bid Gary and Ash goodbye.

"Oh you bet! Nice to meet you too!" Ash cheerfully said as the three girls hugged him goodbye, squealing too at his goofy little kid self.

"Well if you ladies ever need me, you know where to find me." Gary winked and flashed a smile he had been working on recently.

"Awww, so cute!" Daisy squealed as she hugged Gary

"He's like so gonna be a flirt when he's older." Violet said as she pinched one of Gary's cheeks.

"Like totally." Lily added as she pinched Gary's other cheek

"Ow, let go, will you." Gary said as he tried to push away from the three older Waterflower sisters.

"Hehe." The three girls all laughed as they finally let go of Gary.

"Geez, older women." Gary mumbled as he rubbed his cheeks and walked away.

"Well it was nice meeting you Misty. Feel free to come visit whenever you want. You're more than welcomed too." Prof. Oak knelt down as he hugged Misty goodbye.

"Thanks, it was good to meet you too. But *is he going to be there?" Misty whispered as she motioned towards Gary.

"Haha, of course, but *the house is pretty big* and Ash will be there too." Prof. Oak said cheerfully as he got Misty to smile for him.

"Well do come over when you can." Prof. Oak finished as he hugged Misty one last time before he headed off to the car.

"Well Misty dear, it was fun being with you. Fill free to call me about anything, your sisters have my number alright?" Ms. K. said as she gave Misty a big bear hug.

"Alright, I will! It was fun being with you too Ms. K., I mean Delia." Misty smiled as Ms. Ketchum waved goodbye and walked towards the car to where the three elder sisters were helping put the luggage into the trunk of the car.

"Well Misty, it was nice meeting you. Here, this is my email, so we can keep in touch!" Ash said as he handed Misty a piece of paper with an email address on it.

"T-Thanks! I'll email you!" Misty stuttered as she took the paper from the boy with a goofy smile on his face.

"BYE MISTY! SEE YOU LATER!" Ash yelled as he ran to the car.

Last it was Gary to say goodbye. Gary walked up with his hands in his pockets as Misty finally noticed him coming up to her as she stuffed the email address into her pocket.

"Well it was fun Pumpkin Head." Gary smirked cockily

"I told you not to call me that Oak." Misty glared.

"Hey, it's your nick name, what do you want me to do about it?" Gary shrugged.

"You're the one who gave me that nick name!" Misty yelled at Gary.

"Oh yeah. Oh well, it's not like I'm gonna change it." Gary chuckled

"Why you." Misty started balling her fist.

"Anyway, hope to see you around."

"I don't."

"Aw, don't be like that." Gary teased.

HONK HONK

"Gary, come on we gotta get going!" Prof. Oak yelled as everyone started settling in the car as the three eldest sisters began saying goodbye again.

"Coming!" Gary yelled back as he turned to answer his grandpa, as Prof. Oak went back to his check list.

"Well gotta go." Gary said as he started off towards the car.

"Good riddance." Misty said as she watched him, but was curious and annoyed as she saw him turnaround and come back.

"Almost forgot." He said a few steps from Misty.

"What?" She asked annoyed, arching an eyebrow as Gary came closer to her.

"This." Gary said as he kissed Misty right on the lips. Misty was shocked beyond belief, never in her wildest **dreams **or even in reality did she think that her first kiss would be taken by some obnoxious jerk. Finally the kiss broke as Gary pulled away smirking cockily.

"Later." Gary said as he once again headed to the car where everyone else was, and who all just missed what had happened between him and Misty.

"WAIT!" Misty said as she caught Gary by his arm.

"What? Want more?" Gary asked

"You, give it back." Misty seethed

"The kiss? How am I supposed to do that?"

"I DON'T KNOW, JUST GIVE IT BACK!" Misty screamed as her face became red, from anger or embarrassment, Gary had no clue to which.

"No can do, but tell you what, I'll keep it our little secret." Gary winked as he gave Misty a quick little kiss on her lips once again and ran off.

"Wh-what…t-that jerk!...I HATE YOU!" Misty yelled at Gary's retreating figure as her knees finally gave out and she fell to the ground.

"LATER PUMPKIN HEAD!" Gary yelled back as he finally made his way to the car and got inside.

"Bye!"

"Like come back when you can!"

Everyone said as they all waved goodbye to each other as the car drove off, becoming smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Like Misty, what's with you?" Violet asked curiously as she saw her little sister look like she was off in dreamland.

"Huh?" Misty looked up

"Like never mind." Violet said as she and her sisters went back inside the house, while

Daisy picked up Misty and brought her with them.

Meanwhile in the Car

"Gary Dear what's wrong? You're face is all red. Do you have a fever?" Ms. K. said as she reached back towards Gary placing her hand on his forehead.

"Well no fever. Make sure you drink plenty of water Dear." Ms. K. said as she placed a water bottle in the middle seat between Ash and him.

"Mhmm." Gary said looking out the window, his face almost as red as a tomato, looking like he had just tasted something sour as his mouth took a weird crooked form.

Two things happened between Gary and Misty, well two that were just between them. No one had seen Misty get consoled by Gary, just like no one had seen Gary kiss Misty twice. These were secrets just between them and no one would ever know. And know one knew what would happen between those two as the years went by, and certainly not Gary and Misty.

* * *

**A/U:** Well this is the story i said i was working on...and here it is! well what do ya'll think? ^_^ i know it took mi forever, but better late than never. I know i gotta get back to 'Making the Grade', believe mi i know -_- but since this chap is done i'm gonna be workin on the next chap for MG (look it even has Gary's and Misty's initials! haha, just noticed that ^_^) anyway hope ya'll like and remember to R&R. i miss hearin from all of you, but that's sorta mi fault 2 since i havn't been updating all that much...Oh! and before i forget i have a poll up bout what mi next Egofic should be, but don't worry i'm still gonna work on MG. well till next time! and much love!

-Calico ;-P


	2. Unexpected Reunion part 1

**Present:**

Misty- 16

Ash- 16

Gary- 17

Prof. Oak- 59

Ms. K (ect.)- 34

Daisy- 22

Violet- 20

Lily- 19

Coach Surge- 35

Coach Cissy- 25

Mr. Pryce- 61

''talking''

_'thinking'_

* * *

Pallet High- Gym

"Come on you guys! Are you men or boys? Suck it up and get RUNNIN! Let's go Ketchum! You're right behind Oak! The rest of you! You just got overlapped, now RUN!" Coach Surge yelled as "his" basketball team ran suicides up and down the court. The Pallet High Elekids basketball team was in the middle of their season, so far with an undefeated record.

"*TWEET! Alright you guys, huddle up!" Coach surge yelled as he blew his whistle. "Good practice, keep that up and your spirit and we'll definitely go all the way to the FINALS!" Coach yelled as all the boys joined in. "Oak, lead us out!" Coach exclaimed as the team put their hands in to break, thus ending practice.

"Right! Elekids on three! "1-2-3-ELEKIDS!" the team shouted.

The group of boys all headed to the locker room to get changed and ready for their classes. Morning practices started to get more intense, and the practices were starting to head towards two-a-days, which meant that the boys didn't have time to mess around, or relax. As everyone headed to the showers, two boys were taking their time.

"Looks like you still can't beat me Ashy-boy." Gary cockily grinned as he wrapped a towel around his waist, heading to the showers.

"Hey it's not my fault, I had a big breakfast!" Ash said as he walked beside Gary, wrapping a towel around him.

"Excuses, excuses." Gary shook his head jokingly.  
"It's true!"

"Yeah, whatever you say Ash."

Soon the whole basketball team was making their way to the hallways. "Nice shot Oak! "Good practice man, you to Ash." "Awesome block Ketchum." Some boys said as they patted backs or high-fived Gary and Ash as they walked by.

"Yeah man, you too." Gary said as he kept walking to the classroom.

"Hey ya'll, don't forget that we're gonna check out the Vaporeons tonight!" Ash shouted as the boys went to their classrooms.

"Geez Ash, calm down will ya. How could we forget the game when you keep reminding us everyday?" Richie said as he put Ash into a headlock.

"Hey Rich, don't forget he is Ms. K's son." Gary chuckled since Ms Ketchum is known to worry a lot, especially about her son.

"How can I forget?" Richie grinned.

"Richie…can't…breathe…" Ash wheezed as his face started to turn blue.

"Oh, sorry man forgot." Richie said as he finally let go of Ash. Eventually they made it to their class and took their seats.

"Hey Ash, doesn't your girlfriend go to Cerulean High?"

"G-Girlfriend!"

"Ya Rich, how could this Dork possibly have a girlfriend?" Gary chuckled

"Hey! Anyways Misty is not my girlfriend, we're just friends." Ash pouted

"Uh-huh, whatever man. So are you gonna go see her when the team goes to watch the game?"

"Ya, but Misty's got swim practice, so I don't know when we'll actually see each other." Ash shrugged.

"Hey Gary, what bout you?" Richie asked as he leaned forward in his desk to ask Gary who was sitting in front of him.

"What about me?" Gary said as he continued to look forward while opening his textbook.

"Hmm? Don't you know Misty too? I thought you and Ash met her when you guys were little." Richie asked with a confused look on his face.

"Richie, Gary and Misty didn't really get along well back then." Ash whispered

"Then what about now?" Richie whispered back

"It's still the same." Gary answered in his normal voice as he flipped through the pages of his book.

"I think he heard us." Richie whispered to Ash

"No duh." Gary interrupted as both Ash and Richie sweat-dropped.

"All right class settle down, I'm gonna hand back ya'lls' tests so sit down." Mr. Pryce said as he took out a stack of papers from his desk and started passing out the graded test to the students. "David, Todd, Gary, Richie, Ash…"

"Ya! Passed it!" Richie yelled in excitement. "What about you Ash?"

Ash sweat-dropped as he showed Richie his grade, too afraid to say it out loud.

"Geez, man if you keep this up you won't be able to play in the big game!"

"Shhh! I know that already!" Ash whispered quietly hoping that no one had paid attention to what Richie had almost yelled.

"Richie you don't need to yell." Mr. Pryce warned nonchalantly. "Now the majority of ya'll did well on the test, but for the few who didn't I suggest getting a tutor. This means you Ketchum."

"Yes Sir" Ash sighed as some of the class chuckled. As the day progressed it was eventually time for lunch.

"So Gary, what's the story?" Richie asked as he sat down across from Gary with a tray of food.

"What story?" Gary asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"You and Misty of course! Oh and how'd you do on the test?"

"None of your business." Gary said taking another bite.

"To what?"

"Both." Gary glared at Richie

"Rich you know Gary's the smartest in the class, so why ask?" Ash said as he sat down next to Richie.

"Oh, I wasn't askin for me, it's for you since you need a tutor and all." Rich grinned.

"Ha! Nice try but Gary won't tutor me." Ash stated as if he had won a game.

"Uh, Ash, that's not a good thing." Richie sweat-dropped

"So Gary, why won't ya tutor Ash?"

"Cause he's an idiot." Gary sighed as he rubbed his temples

"Am not! You're just not a good teacher; you keep making everything complicated so I can't understand!" Ash argued back

"Please, you can't even figure out what 2x2 is." Gary glared

"Yes I can!"

"Then prove it Ashy-boy. What's 5x5." Gary leaned forward on one arm as he smirked at Ash.

"Seriously you guys. Ash-"Richie started but then looked at Ash who started to count his fingers.

"What?" Ash looked at Richie who had banged his head on the table along with Gary.

"Nothing, anyways back to my other question."

"No." Gary said without Richie finishing what he was going to say.

"Aw, come on Gary! What happened between you and Misty!" Richie whined which really irritated Gary. One of the few things Gary disliked most was when someone whined for no good reason, which probably came about from growing up with Ash; or was it the fact that Richie wanted to know the relationship between him and Misty? _'Does it matter?'_ Gary concluded as he began to grab his things.

"It's none of your damn business so drop it." Gary said glaring daggers at Richie as he got up and left.

"Hmm, guess I shouldn't have pushed, but he didn't have to take it so hard." Richie sighed as he watched Gary walk away, with a bunch of girls calling out to him. "Man, Ash I don't see how you and Gary could have grown up together and stay close throughout the years. I mean, come on he has some pretty deep issues and well you're just…you."

"Ya, ya, I don't understand it either, but like you said we grew up together so we're somehow able to tolerate each other. Anyways what do you mean by 'just you'?" Ash looked to the side and raised a questionable eyebrow.

"Hmm? Whatcha say?" Richie looked back as he had a mouthful of food in his mouth.

Meanwhile Gary was walking out of the cafeteria, semi-ignoring the calls of the girls but waved and gave his trademark flirt smile occasionally as he soon made it out. Even though Gary was said to be the number one guy in Pallet High and notorious for flirting with a lot of girls he never got into anything serious. Somehow he felt like he couldn't, heck the last **real** date he ever had was back in freshman year. Yep, somehow Gary found it was fun to flirt with all the girls but otherwise he would find it annoying when he kept getting confessed to, his email and phone filled with messages, and quite a few times stocked. _'Thank God that one girl moved away.'_ . Finally Gary found his way to his locker, grabbing a few books while putting some others back, when his attention was taken away from what he was doing by a slam from the locker next to him.

"Locker not workin again Trace?" Gary glanced over as he saw Tracey, the new transfer student, bang his head on his locker after hitting it with his fist into it.

"Yeah, you mind?" Tracey asked turning his head, with it still on the locker, to face Gary with an apologetic smile.

"Alright, step aside." Gary said as he slightly pushed Tracey aside so he could get the locker open. "Let's see what the problem is." Gary mumbled as he fiddled with the lock. After a few hits to the locker and twist of the lock, Gary finally got the locker to open up.

"Geez, Gary how'd you do that?" Tracey looked at the locker as he asked.

"I memorized the combination." Gary said with a cocky smirk as he saw Tracey sweat-drop.

"Heh, I guess I should have done that." Tracey rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ya, don't worry bout it. Anyway Trace you comin with us tonight to watch your old school team?" Gary looked over smirking

"*Sigh, you really expect me to go to that?" Tracey asked with a confused look. Tracey was the new transfer student from Cerulean High, so going to his old school's rival school would be awkward in itself, but going to see a game of his old school with the team rivals seemed even weirder. Of course, Gary was one of his closest friends since the transfer, in some ways Gary had helped Tracey a lot in fitting in. Although he could tell that Gary somehow tolerated him more than others. Which caused him to question what was up with Gary all of a sudden.

"Gary, what's up with you? You seem a bit out of it."

"Nothing man. Look, are you coming to the game or not? You are the new team manger you know." Gary said as he smirked at Tracey, since he knew he couldn't back out on the plans now.

"Geez, I get it alright. You don't have to remind me." Tracey said as he shut his locker door.

"Ya, well it's not like I can hang out with Ash and Richie at the game, and all the other guys are gonna try to hook up with some Vaporeon girls." Gary turned around putting his hands in his jacket pockets walking away. Tracey followed along side Gary wondering what he was talking about.

"Ok, I understand the whole thing bout the guys scouting out the girls and not the team, but what's with Ash and Richie?"

"Nothing, just them being stupid as usual."

"Really? I thought that they were gonna go see some friend of Ash's." Tracey said confused what Gary was talking about.

"Pumpkin Head."

"Huh?" Tracey stopped in his tracks as Gary continued walking not looking back and not saying anything else. Tracey had no clue with what Gary had said, but also knew that that was about all Gary was going to say.

'_I guess I'll find out about the rest tonight.'_ Tracey shrugged as he started walking again heading to where his next class would be.

Cerulean High- Gym Class

"Alright Misty, you're next. Show the class what we're going to be doing to day." Coach Cissy exclaimed as Misty took her cue . Misty headed over to where the diving boards were at the other pool. Finally, Misty made it to the top of the middle level diving board and took her stance.

"Ready Waterflower?" Coach Cissy asked

"Ready." Misty said as she waited for her orders.

"Alright class, pay close attention! This won't be repeated for a second time!" Cissy yelled to try to emphasize her point. Coach Cissy blew a whistle and soon enough Misty gracefully dived down into the pool. When she came back up the class applauded and made their way to the lower level diving boards as Coach Cissy kept giving commands.

"Waterflower, you can go for today. Thanks for the help. And don't forget that swim practice is tonight too."

"Ok, I got it. I'll see you later then." Misty said as she walked off toward the looker rooms drying her hair with her hand towel.

'_Well at least I don't have to do anything else for this period, but why do we have to have practice the day Ash is coming to visit? It's been forever since the last time we met up!'_ Misty sighed as she didn't notice someone calling out to her.

"Misty!"

"Huh? What's up Melody?"

"Geez, do you know how many times I called out your name?" Melody asked placing her hand on her hip as she semi-scolded Misty. "Anyway, do you want to head out for lunch, since we have a free period?" Melody asked taking a seat on a bench near the lookers.

"Sure might as well, otherwise I'll be stuck eating that mystery meat. Ugh, why do they serve that stuff when they know no one's going to eat it?" Misty complained as she changed back into her clothes.

"Because they don't want to waste the leftovers, besides they only serve it once a week."

"Still it's disgusting, what if someone gets sick? I mean the guys' basketball team has a game tonight, what if that freak meat does something?"

"Mist, I think you're goin a little overboard." Melody sweat-dropped

"Alright, I get it. Where should we go?" Misty asked as she made her way out from the rows of lockers to a waiting, and hungry, Melody.

"How bout that new café that opened up, I haven't been there yet."

"Oh, the one with the panda eating the strawberry?"

"Ya! That one, I heard it has great food."

"Sounds awesome, let's go!" Misty and Melody made their way out of the school and towards the parking lot. Misty ended up being the one driving to the café. Not because she had to but because she wanted to. Although Misty could drive it wasn't her car, but Daisy's car that she was able to borrow for a little while since Daisy was out of town for the day. Yes, Misty's sisters were famous and all, not to mention her family owned the renowned Cerulean Gym, and had a good amount of income, but that doesn't mean that she had much. Misty still got the occasional hammy-downs and was on a semi strict allowance and curfew, thanks to the overprotective big sister Daisy of course, which meant that she didn't have a car. So not wanting to pass up the chance, Misty borrowed Daisy's sky-blue bug car. Soon enough, the two girls were at the café eating their freak meat free lunch.

"So Mist, you said you were goin to meet up with that old friend of yours tonight?"

"Ya, but we have swim practice the same time he's goin to be here."

"Oh yeah, I forgot he's part of that Pallet High basketball team. Their whole team is coming tonight aren't they?" Melody asked as she took a break from eating her lunch.

"Apparently, Ash said that it's for scouting reasons." Misty said as she stopped eating as well and placed her hand under her chin to lean on.

"So Tracey's doing fine over there I guess, he's the manger isn't he?" Melody asked as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Seems so, I still don't get why though." Misty said as she sighed recalling that Tracey wasn't an athletic guy, but the artsy type. Always drawing doodles in class, that were less like doodles and more sketches, and getting into trouble for not paying attention to the lectures.

"Well maybe he's just trying to fit in you know?" Melody said as she played with her food.

"Well anyway I hope Tracey comes with the team, it'd be nice to see him since he left." Misty smiled as she hoped to see another one of her friends.

"Hey, speaking of the team, isn't their some other guy that you know on there?"

"Hmm? You mean Ash? You already know about him." Misty looked puzzled at Melody's odd question.

"No, not Ash. That other guy, isn't he famous? You know, his grandpa's some famous Pokémon Researcher and I think his sister is some famous model or actress or whatever." Melody said as she rambled on trying to remember the guy's name. "I think I saw him in some magazine or newspaper before. He's supposed to be really good looking and smart too." Melody continued as she began to get excited talking about the guy whose name she couldn't remember. Misty could tell because of the twinkle in her friend's eyes and the small smile she had on, that only Misty saw whenever Melody either had on when she saw a cute/hot guy or when her plans worked out. Misty grimaced to herself as she saw Melody talking and trying to remember the boy's name. She knew Melody well, they had been friends since early junior high and became like sisters as they got older. Since entering high school Melody became more interested in journalism, which meant that she would unnecessarily get into people's business. Of course she also became more interested in making notebooks containing all the hottest guys, trends, and anything else that would cause her to do research on. _'I have a bad feeling about this for some reason.'_ Misty winced as she saw Melody finally remember who the guy was.

"I remember now, it's Gary Oak! His grandpa is the famous Pokémon Researcher Professor Oak of Pallet Town and his sister is May Oak, you know the one that we see on the magazines and TV commercials with your sisters. Oh, and Gary's also a model." Melody said as she grabbed a magazine out from her bag and flipped to a page that showed Gary wearing dark colored jeans that sagged just some inches away from his belly button. Not only that but you could clearly see how muscular Gary was since he didn't have a shirt on, as he slung a deep purple jacket over his shoulder and his free hand shoved in his jean pocket as he gave a cocky smile and eyes that dared someone to challenge him.

"It says in here that he's single and voted the number one hotty for two straight years in _Poke-Beat_. Not to mention he's the co-captain of Pallet High's basketball team, and of course a part time model." Melody went on as she pointed to the picture and side comments of Gary in the magazine. All Misty could do was look at it with annoyance, and slight embarrassment as she saw the boy who she had met when she was younger and recalled him telling her she was flat. _'I can't believe he did that to me. That jerk, I hope he get's sunburned.'_ Misty thought as she looked away from another picture of Gary surfing at the beach remembering the awful encounter.

"Misty!"

"Huh?"

"Geez, you keep spacing out on me. Anyway, I can't believe you know him! Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your shoes?" Melody squealed

"*Sigh, Look Mel you can't tell anyone about this alright. Besides I don't even really know him and we have never gotten along, emphasize on the never part." Misty said as she took a sip of her drink.

"Please, like I want other girls to know this, 'sides you know I can keep a secret." Melody huffed angrily as Misty allegedly implied that she would spill-the-beans.

"Alright, I got it."

"Anyway, what's with you two? You keep going on about how you two don't get along, I mean you told me the story of when you guys first met and all but isn't it more like he liked you and that's why he picked on you?" Melody said as she resumed eating her lunch.

"Whatever, he was a totally jerk." Misty leaned back and crossed her arms. _'Well at least she doesn't know about those other two secrets, or she would never stop nagging me about Gary. I can't believe she even mentioned 'he picked on me because he liked me,' when will I stop hearing that?'_

"Well how bout you two catch up at the game tonight." Melody suggested as she snapped Misty from her thoughts.

"Mel, you know we got swim practice the same time as the game tonight."

"Ya, but there's always after!" Melody smiled as she pointed a finger up in the air as if she had found the answer to the "problem".

"Can't, that's when I plan to meet up with Ash." Misty said trying to get out of Melody's meddling.

"Misty come on, you can meet up with Ash **and** Gary you know." Melody said getting annoyed as Misty tried to find excuses.

"Ya, we'll see about that." Misty mumbled

"What did you say?" Melody arched an eyebrow

"Nothing, let's go. I don't want to be late for the next class." Misty said as she got up and threw her trash away.

"Don't think this discussion is over Misty Waterflower. Do you hear me!" Melody said as she dumped her trash in the trash can and followed Misty out to the car.

Cerulean High Gym- Vaporeons vs. Rhydons (later that day)

"Let's go Vaporeons!" "Come on Rhydons, you can do it!" Voices cheered for their team as the game was heading to half time. So far the Vaporeons were up by twenty, which wasn't that hard to believe considering that they were one of the best teams in the Kanto Region.

"I can't believe that Coach wanted all of us to come to this." Gary mumbled as he sat on the bleachers of the Cerulean High gym.

"Gary you know that Coach wanted us to do some team bonding, besides the game is actually pretty interesting." Ash watched the game with enjoyment in his eyes as he watched someone from Cerulean shoot a three pointer that seemed to just float into the basket.

"Did you forget that if someone from Cerulean recognizes us there could be some trouble?" Gary whispered annoyed at Ash's cluelessness.

"Gary, don't worry nobody's gonna recognize us, it's not like we have our letterman jackets on or anything." Richie said as he patted Gary's back. Gary just smacked Richie's hand away and started watching the game again hoping that it would end soon. When half time finally came Gary got up and started walking off the bleachers.

"Hey Gary, where you goin?" Tracey called out, but soon wished he hadn't as he got a glare from Gary who started to come towards him.

"Don't say my name so loud! Do you want people to recognize us?" Gary yelled quietly so that only he and Tracey could hear. After all there were two reasons why Gary didn't want people to know why he was here. One was the fact that the Cerulean Vaporeons and the Pallet Town Elekids were arch rivals, so it was a disadvantage for Gary and the rest of the team if someone found out who they were. Second was the fact that Gary was semi-famous with his renowned family and him being a model and all. So needless to say he didn't want any unneeded attention.

"Sorry, my bad." Tracey winced with a goofy smile hoping that Gary would calm down a bit.

"*Sigh, look I'm gonna walk around a bit so if anyone needs me **don't** tell them where I went." Gary started walking off again and made his way into the crowded hallways of the school. _'Man can't people talk in the stands instead of standing around here?'_ Gary thought as he made his way through the crowd trying to find a quiet place to where he could think and be by himself. After walking around for a few minutes Gary found his way to the second gym of Cerulean High.

"Well I might as well see what's goin on in here." Gary decided as he heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Once he walked in Gary noticed that there was people in swimsuits. There were people diving off of boards, doing relays, and some were just swimming. Gary noticed that there were some people sitting on the bleachers so he walked over and took a seat. The gym that he was in had three pools. One for diving and two that had swim lanes made up for races. Boys took one pool as the girls took the other. No one wore their team swimwear but their own swimsuits. However there were still some rules involved for what they wore for practice: for one the girls had to wear a one piece, while the boys just wore board shorts. And then there was the fact that the girls all had on swim caps and goggles, so it made it hard to figure out who was who.

'_Man, how can the coach tell who's who?'_ Gary wondered as rubbed his forehead with his hand to try to stop a headache from coming because of the coach's yelling. Gary looked around as he saw some guys talking a few rows up. Gary started to listen in a bit to what the boys were talking about. "Dude, you should totally go after her, she's like one of the hottest girls in school." "Tch no way man, her friend is the better looking one of the two." "Man, they should totally change into their bikinis." _'Alright this is totally pointless. How can they even tell who's who?_' Gary soon looked back to watching the practice as he noticed someone, or a girl to be more precise. She had on a red one piece that had yellow lightning bolts going down the side. _'Well this brings back memories.'_ Gary looked on in interest. He continued to watch her, every move she made and every time she would go into the pool. She took off her goggles a few times to reveal aquamarine eyes that he remembered so fondly and not in some of the best ways either. Gary also noticed her legs, _'Damn, she should show those off more often.' _She laughed to a friend and cheered when they were doing practice relays. She seemed to be so relaxed as he watched her. Suddenly Gary heard someone call out to him.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" A lady came up to him with almost disgust written on her face. _'Must be the Coach.'_ Gary concluded as he saw a whistle around her neck and the fact that she was yelling at some of the people on the swim team earlier. "Are you here just to watch, because if you are I suggest you leave now. This isn't a show for some boy who doesn't even go to this school." The lady scolded as she crossed her arms and glared daggers at Gary.

'_How the hell does she know I don't know to this school? Well I might as well try.'_ Gary thought as he started to sit up straight. "Sorry Coach, but I'm waiting for an old friend, she's supposed to be on the swim team and-"

"I don't care what your excuse is. Besides as you can see the team is busy, so come back after we're done. I'm talking to ya'll up there too." Coach Cissy glared at Gary then at the group of boys behind him who started to leave the gym, glaring back at Coach Cissy and grumbling to themselves.

"Um Coach-" Gary began again but was interrupted….again.

"Cissy, that's Coach Cissy to you."

"Well, Coach Cissy could you at least tell me when Misty Waterflower will be done. That's who I'm waiting for." Gary said with the sweetest smile he could give to the strict looking coach hoping that his charm would help. _'Of course this will work, who doesn't fall for the Oak charm?'_

"Waterflower?" Coach Cissy arched an eyebrow at the name a bit puzzled as to why Gary was there for her, since the only time Misty ever had visitors during practice it was usually her older sisters.

"Yeah, Misty Waterflower. She is on the team right?" Gary asked a bit confused to Coach Cissy's response.

"Well yeah, she's here, but who are you exactly? And why are you waiting for Waterflower?"

"Oh sorry, the names Gary." Gary left out his last name because he didn't want others to hear it just incase anyone knew the famous last name. "Misty and I are…well…" Gary was at a lost for words for the first time. _'Come on we are friends…aren't we?'_ Gary scratched the back of his head when Coach Cissy broke him from his thoughts once more.

"Alright I get it. No need to hurt yourself over it. You can stay, just so long as you keep out of my practice." Coach Cissy walked off as Gary thanked her retreating figure. _'Geeze, what's that lady's problem? She obviously hasn't had a date in awhile.'_ Gary glared at the coach's back as he went back to watching the swim practice not even caring that he was missing the rest of the basketball game.

As Gary continued to watch the practice there was two girls watching the relays as Coach Cissy walked up to them. "Waterflower, why didn't you say your boyfriend was coming?" Coach Cissy asked with a sly smile.

"My boyfriend?" Misty asked wondering what in the world her coach was talking about.

"Yeah, I was just talking to him. Seems he came to watch you. I told him he can stay as long as he doesn't interfere, and you better keep focused too Waterflower." Coach Cissy said as she walked off and started to yell to the relay teams.

"Did you hear that Mist. Ash must be here then, and he's waiting for you." Melody smirked.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe he's here! I gotta go see him." Misty started toward the bleachers when she was suddenly pulled back by the arm.

"Whoa there princess, do you want Coach to punish you that much? You heard what she said. Now come on let's get back to practice, you can see your lover boy after we're done." Melody said as she pulled Misty by her arm toward their relay groups.

Back at the Basketball Game

Ash leaned back in the bleachers, Richie had his headphones on as he listened to some music while watching the game and Tracey recorded the game, just incase Coach Surge wanted to see if the Vaporeons had done anything different since the last time they played each other. Finally the buzzer went off and the game ended with the Vaporeons' victory, and people started to make their way either to leave or to congratulate the team.

"Hey, where the heck is Gary? We haven't seen him since he left during halftime." Ash said, taking notice for the first time that his friend was missing.

"I wouldn't worry bout him Ash, besides I got what Coach needed." Tracey said as he turned off his camera.

"Yeah but he's my ride home." Ash said looking like a lost little boy.

"Ash, don't worry bout it, besides I can give ya a ride." Richie said as he popped some popcorn into his mouth. The rest of the team had left after the third quarter leaving Ash, Richie and Tracey to themselves….and wondering where the heck Gary had wandered off to.

"Anyway, let's go see if we can find this old friend of yours." Richie said as he put his arm on Ash's shoulder.

"Rich I don't think her practice is over yet." Ash said as he took Richie's arm off his shoulder.

"Ash come on, her practice is probably almost over. So stop your whining and lets go." Richie said as he pushed Ash from behind toward the exit.

"Hold up Richie, do you even know where you're going?" Tracey said following his friends.

"Good question, so that means you lead the way Trace." Richie said as he smiled leaving an arm extended telling Tracey to lead the way to where Misty was having her swim practice.

Back at the Swimming Gym

"Alright everyone, that was a good practice. Tomorrow ya'll come by and we'll go over last years meets. Well practice is over so get cleaned up and ya'll can head on home." Coach Cissy yelled so that everyone could hear and dismissed them.

"Melody I'm gonna go say hi to Ash real quick so you go ahead to the locker room." Misty said cheerfully as she made her way over to where Ash was, not even giving Melody a chance to reply. Misty got closer to the bleachers when she noticed someone making their way over to her. Misty began to run a bit and jumped into Ash to give him a hug.

"I can't believe you made it! I missed you so much!" Misty exclaimed happily into Ash's shoulder. Ash put his arms around Misty holding her gently around the waist and returning the hug. Finally it was Ash's turn to speak.

"I missed you to Pumpkin Head."

"What?" Misty looked up surprised at the sudden name that she was only called by one person. "G-Gary? What are you doing here?" Misty exclaimed as she pushed against Gary's chest with her hands to try to get away, but to no avail. Gary just wrapped his arm tighter around Misty as he brought one hand to her face and held her chin by his thumb.

"Why to see you of course." Gary smiled goofily

"Very funny Oak. Now, LET ME GO!" Misty screamed as she tried to get out of Gary's grasp when Gary suddenly interrupted her fussing.

"Who said I was joking Misty?" Misty looked up at Gary wondering at first why he had actually used her real name and then noticed a look in Gary's eyes that seemed almost familiar, in a kind way, to her.

"Gary, put me down. This isn't funny, people are starting to watch." Misty whispered as she pleaded to Gary to let her go from the embarrassing spectacle she and Gary were in.

"Let them watch, I don't care." Gary smirked as he dismissed Misty's plead.

"Come on Gary, let me go. What if Ash sees us?" Misty tried pleading again hoping that Gary would stop teasing her if Ash was somehow involved. However, when Gary heard Misty mention Ash he became irritated. _'What the hell, does all she think about is Ashy-boy?'_

"Only if you can do one thing for me Pumpkin Head." Gary smirked as an idea popped into his head.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. What is it?" Misty said hoping to get out of the embarrassing predicament that seemed to gather the whole swim to watch in amusement.

"This." Suddenly Misty's eyes went wide as she felt Gary's lips on hers. Misty was utterly confused and her mind went blank. She closed her eyes and tried once again to push away from Gary. Gary loosened his grip on Misty and let her go slowly as he broke the kiss and began to smirk a cocky smirk as he saw the expression on Misty face. Misty held her hands to cover her mouth. Her eyes wide again at what had happened.

"Y-You…you…what did YOU DO!" Misty's voice grew loud as she balled her hands into fists at her sides and began glaring daggers at Gary.

"What you said I could do Pumpkin Head." Gary held his smirk as he laughed to himself.

Misty was fighting back a terrible blush but her face was already going red from being mad at Gary that no one could tell if it was embarrassment or rage.

"You JERK! HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME!" Misty screamed at Gary as she pushed him back.

"Hey now, there's no need to get physical Pumpkin Head." Gary raised his hands in defense while trying to hold back his laughter.

"Why I'll show you physical." Misty steamed as she stomped angrily over towards Gary, not noticing the fact that both her and Gary were close to the pools edge.

"MISTY WATERFLOWER! YOU'RE BOYFRIEND IS HERE!" Richie yelled as loud as he could as the whole swim team looked back to see Richie waving his arms around hoping that Misty had heard and seen him.

"Huh?" Misty spun around when she heard her name and the word boyfriend thinking that someone was talking about her and Gary. "He's not my boyfriend!" She screamed and suddenly noticed Ash among the crowd.

"Ash! Thank God it's you!" Misty exclaimed as she started off towards Ash, yet again to be held back.

"Hey there Ashy-boy. What took you so long?" Gary said as he wrapped his arms around Misty's waist from behind and placed his head beside her hoping to get a reaction.

'_If this doesn't I don't know what will.'_ "What do you think you're doing Oak? Let me go!" Misty seethed once again trying to get away from Gary.

"Gary? Since when did you get here?" Ash asked puzzled as to why his friend was here oblivious to the situation he and Misty were in.

"Been here since half time, I just thought I'd come and see how Misty was doing. She's a great swimmer you know." Gary smirked and Misty couldn't help but blush at the compliment Gary had given to her. _'No! This isn't the time to get sidetracked, Ash is here.'_ Getting focused again at what was happening, Misty fought off the blush and began to wrestle free from Gary.

"Let go of me Oak. I said let GOOOOO!" Misty screamed as she tried pulling away from Gary again and almost succeeded until the next thing she knew she was being pulled down into the pool with Gary. Misty came to the top of the water quickly and looked around for Gary. _'Where the heck did that jerk go?'_ Suddenly Misty felt a tug at her legs and went back down under the water. She saw Gary still smirking as he floated in the water holding onto her arm now. Misty glared back at him and pushed away from him as she floated back to the top and towards the edge of the pool with Gary right behind her. Once they were out of the pool Gary gently patted Misty's head.

"Haha, just like when we were kids, huh, Pumpkin Head?" Gary laughed remembering the time when he and Misty fell into the pond at her house when they first met. Misty slapped his hand away and turned around giving a look that could kill.

"You. Do you know how dangerous that was? Someone could have been hurt because of you!" Misty fumed as she balled her hands into fists once more at her side.

"Well no one was hurt Pumpkin Head so just calm down." Gary said as he looked at Misty with a quizzical eye wondering why she seemed to be so upset at something that was just an accident.

'_Pumpkin Head? Calm down? Pumpkin Head!'_ Misty became more angry with every passing second looking down shaking as she thought to herself.

'_Why the hell is she shaking? Is she alright?'_ Gary leaned closer to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Misty, you alright?" Gary asked as sweetly (and worriedly) as he could. Suddenly Misty looked up at him as if she were about to kill him.

SLAP

Misty stormed off toward the locker rooms as Gary stood there with his face still turned to where you could see a red handprint on his cheek.

"Alright everyone shows over!" Melody quickly yelled clapping her hands together trying to get everyone's attention. "Now lets go before they lock us in here." Soon enough the rest of the swim team headed toward the locker rooms since the show was over and all. While everyone went to the locker rooms Melody went up to Ash.

"Well I'm guessing you're Ash. Misty will be out soon so just sit and wait awhile. Oh and you might want to check on your friend." Melody said as she threw her thumb back toward where Gary was still standing.

"Um…t-thanks." Ash stuttered to Melody's retreating figure.

"*whistle, Man did she leave a mark." Richie said as he looked at the handprint on Gary's face. "You weren't kidding when you said they don't get along, huh."

"Richie shut up." Ash said as he pushed Richie aside more so for his friend's safety than anything else. This was the first time Ash had seen Gary get slapped in the face…ok maybe not the first time by a girl, but definitely from Misty and it was the first time to see Gary just do nothing. "Um, Gary, don't be mad at Misty alright. I'm sure she's just not feeling that well you know?" Ash tried smiling a bit hoping that Gary wouldn't lash out at Misty later on. Finally Gary started to move.

"Geez, I didn't think I'd be swimming tonight." Gary chuckled as he took off his purple shirt and wrung the water out of it. Once he got out as much water as he could Gary flung his shirt over his shoulders and started walking out of the gym.

"Gary! Where are you going now?" Tracey called after him.

"Relax, I'm just gonna go see if I have any dry clothes in my car that I can change into. Just meet me there when ya'll are done." Gary waved as he continued to walk off toward where the parking lot was.

"You think he's alright?" Richie finally spoke a couple of minutes after Gary had left.

"I don't know, maybe, I guess." Ash shrugged not really knowing how to answer the question.

"Well I guess we'll find out later than." Tracey sighed as he took a seat on the bottom bleacher where Ash and Richie soon followed.

Meanwhile-Inside the Girls Locker Rooms

"Misty! I can't believe you did that!" Melody screamed at Misty. "I mean sure Gary was teasing you and all but to actually slap him like that in front of everyone! What were you thinking?"

"What was **I **thinking? What was **he**thinking? I kept telling him to let go, heck I even asked him nicely but all he did was keep calling me Pumpkin Head, pulling me into the pool and on top of that he KISSED ME! HE DESERVED IT!" Misty slammed her locker door and turned to Melody who was standing right next to her. All the other girls had left as quickly as they could because they didn't want to be somehow swept up into Misty's and Gary's drama, even if what had happened was interesting, the girls valued their lives over the gossip at that moment.

"But he's your childhood friend."

"What childhood friend? What friend at all? He's just some egotistical jerk, who thinks that he's all that just because of his name, his looks, and his abilities. Well you know what? He's just some kid who can't even beat me in a Pokémon battle and can't even keep a relationship for more than a month." Misty fumed as she stuffed some of her belongings into her duffel bag.

"Well if he is what you say he is then why did you run into his arms and hug him?" Melody leaned against the lockers with her arms crossed as she waited for Misty's reply.

"Don't even Mel. You know that I thought he was Ash and you even thought so too. So don't." Misty glared at her friend.

"Fine, but you still owe him an apology Mist. You know that what you did was outta line and that you two falling into the pool was a total accident; Gary didn't pull you in on purpose. Sure he teased you a bit-"

"A bit?"

"Let me finish….Anyway, yeah he teased you but from what I observed it was more of his way of showing his affection toward you."

"I'm sorry, I'm confused here. Affection? Gary? Toward me? You lost me Mel." Misty shook her head in disbelief and bewilderment at what her friend was telling her.

"Yeah, affection towards you. I mean he called you Pumpkin Head just like he did when you were kids. He wrapped his arms around, which seemed like you were his girlfriend by the way. And he also mentioned something about what happened to you and him along time ago."

"So what's your point?" Misty asked half listening and half not caring.

"My point is Miss Waterflower, is that a boy who doesn't like you would not look at you with eyes like he did, wouldn't wrap his arms around you like he did, and wouldn't look ticked at you for mentioning another boy's name like he did, which comes down to him having some sort of feelings for you." Melody said hoping that what she was telling Misty had gotten through to her.

"Wow…that's the weirdest and creepiest theory you have ever come up with Mel." Misty said looking straight into her friends eyes as if she were delusional. Melody just slapped her hand to her forehead at Misty's reply, concluding that her friend either didn't want to accept what she had told her of Gary's diagnosis or was oblivious to the whole thing. _'I'll be nice and just think that she's in denial.'_ Melody thought as she grabbed her bags and followed Misty out of the locker rooms.

Meanwhile-at the Parking Lot

Gary finally made his way to his car, dripping water with every step. He popped the trunk and rummaged through a bag filled with extra clothes. Gary took out a pair of pants, a shirt, an old pair of flip flops, and underwear. Gary always kept an extra set of clothes for whatever might happen to him and was glad he did since he didn't want to drive home soaking wet and possibly getting sick. Gary did a quick strip and put on his dry clothes. He wore black basketball shorts and a red t-shirt that had 'Catch 'Em All' written in black and a poke-ball on it. Gary took out his wallet from his wet jeans and put it in his shorts pocket. Gary started going through his trunk again and found a plastic bag that he could put all his non-dry clothes in. After throwing everything back into the trunk of his car, Gary slammed the trunk down a little harder than he needed to and leaned against the back of his car.

"Damn it." Gary said as he pushed one hand through his hair while he looked at the ground. _'What the hell is wrong with her to slap me like that, in front of all those people? She made me look like an idiot! I mean I was just goofing around, she knew that….didn't she?'_ "Damn it!" Gary yelled as he hit his car as hard as he could with his fist, leaving a dent. "Damn, what the hell happened?" _'What the hell did I do that made her so mad like that? Hell why do I even care? She's the one who should be apologizing to me! I'm Gary freakin' Oak and she's Misty Pumpkin Head Waterflower. I did nothing to get slapped at for, and yet she's the one that's mad?'_ Gary shook his head trying to cool himself off. "Whatever, I don't care anymore." Gary sighed rubbing his cheek that Misty had slapped.

Back at the Gym

"So Ash, you know Misty then?" Tracey asked hoping that they could get out of the awkward mood that Gary and Misty had left.

"Um, yeah-" Ash started

"Well, Ash, Gary, and Misty here have known each other a long time. Every time I try asking them about Misty though they just blow me off and start saying the same thing about how they've known each other since they were little. You know, I think its their way of being protective. Especially Gary, he won't tell me a thing about his and Misty's relationship. Ow!" Richie yelped as his head went flying back and he fell onto his back on the bleachers after being hit in the head by a stray basketball.

"Who's protective?" Gary glared daggers as one eye twitched as he looked at Richie.

"Gary, calm down will ya! Are you trying to kill him?" Ash yelled as he looked over at Richie who looked dazed and confused.

"Tch, whatever." Gary said as he leaned against the side of the bleachers.

'_Guess we know what mood he's in.'_ The boys thought as they sweat-dropped.

After a couple more minutes went by the girls came out. One was dressed in a knee-length flowing brown skirt and an orange tank top. Along with the outfit was a pair of leather flip flops, while she carried a gym bag and tote in hand. Not to mention her hair was let down, with a thin headband to hold it back. She was walking along side Misty who wore army green cargo pants with a pair of brown leather flip flops. Her top was a blue and red stripped tank top, while she let her shoulder length hair be held back in a loose ponytail as she strapped a gym bag across her shoulders and carried a small red duffel bag.

"ASH!" Misty called out as she went to hug Ash.

"M-Misty, hey…um, well, h-how's it goin?" Ash stuttered a bit unsure of how to act after what had happened just a little while ago and also because he was nervous since he hadn't seen Misty in person for a few years.

"Oh my GOSH! I can't believe I finally get to meet you guys! Let me guess you're Ash right?" Melody somewhat squealed as she grabbed both of Ash's hands in excitement, after shoving Misty off to the side.

"Um, yeah…Who're you?" Ash asked confused as he tried to pull his hands out from Melody's grasp, but to no avail.

"Oh, silly me. My name's Melody, the best friend Misty can ever have!" Melody said as she wrapped her arms around Misty's shoulders. Suddenly Melody looked really excited and started screaming. "KYAAH! IT'S GARY OAK!" Melody screamed as loud as she possibly could as she ran over to Gary holding a pen and a picture of him she had torn out of a magazine to sign, completing forgetting the rest of the group. "Could you sign this please! Oh, and could you tell me what your relationship with Misty is?"

"Huh?" Gary exclaimed as he tried to hide the fact that his voice almost cracked from the last question and that he couldn't believe that she was asking him this after what had happened.

"MELODY!" Misty yelled as she balled her hands into fist.

"Tch, fine, never mind." Melody said with a click of her tongue as she walked away.

'_Weirdo.'_ Gary thought as he walked toward the group. "Hey Pumpkin Head." Gary smirked while thinking, _'Tch, this little pipsqueak is gonna regret what she did. She should consider herself lucky she even knows me, I'm the Great Gary Oak after all.'_

"Hmpf." Misty looked away annoyed as she turned around and grabbed Ash by the arm dragging him toward the exit.

'_Man I hope Misty knows what she's doin.'_ Melody sighed as she turned and looked at the rest of the group. "Well we better go too, before they lock us in." Melody said as she started walking out with the guys following close behind.

* * *

**Author's Note:** YAY! I UPDATED! XD haha, ok sorry for the wait ya'll but here is my latest installment of Past Present. This is a long chapter for mi yet, like 30 pages typed on mi computer (O_O)...ok so it may not be alot to ya'll but it is for mi...anyway this is part 1 of 2 for chapter 2 cuz as i already told ya'll this was pretty long...don't worry im workin on part 2 right now, but i also reaaaallly gotta work on MtG cuz i reaaaalllly haven't updated that story in a loooooonng time... also this chap was hard to work on cuz ya'll liked the first one so much, so i was trying to make this chap as good as or even better than the first, hopefully ya'll like it though...also if ya'll are wondering bout 'Gary's deep issues' well i'm plannin on revealling that later, along with some other past memories (haha, ya'll thought that the 1st chap was the only flashback i was gonna have didn't ya? XD)...well please R&R as always ^_^ i love hearing from ya'll

Much love-

Calico ;-P


	3. Unexpected Reunion part 2

**Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Pokemon or the characters in it

"talking"

_'thinking'_

**A/N:** Um, yeah if ya'll would like to know the characters' ages please look to previous chapter...Sorry, they just took up alot of space, but I will post them on chaps to come so that ya'll don't forget ^_^  
oh! but here's Tracey's and Richie's ages  
Tracey-17

Richie-17

* * *

Chapter 3-Unexpected Reunion part 2

Past-The Oak Mansion….Somewhere

"Gary, what are you doing?" Ash asked his friend as he watched him put a bucket, filled with water, on top of the door, so that when someone opened the door they would get drenched in the icy cold water.

"SHH, Ashy-boy! Are you trying to get me caught?" Gary hushed Ash as he placed the bucket just right so that it wouldn't fall when it wasn't supposed to. When Gary made it back down, he hid the step-stool he used and pulled Ash with him around a corner so that they could watch the prank unfold, without themselves being seen.

"Gary, are you sure this is ok? What if we get into trouble?" Ashe whispered as he continued to watch the booby-trapped door.

"Relax Ketchum, it's not like we're doing anything bad. It's just a harmless prank." Gary chuckled as he waited in anticipation for his soon to be victim. Next the door began to open and the water fell covering the victim in its icy self as the bucket fell right beside the victim rolling away. Gary and Ash, but mostly Gary, broke out laughing at the success of the prank and the unsuspecting victim's reaction.

"Hahahahaha! That was priceless! You should've seen the look on your face Pumpkin Head!" Gary continued laughing as he grabbed his stomach from laughing so hard. As Gary laughed, Misty stood there in the doorway dripping wet clutching her hands into fists and her face rivaling the color of her fiery orange hair.

"YOU BUTTFACE!" Misty screamed as she launched herself at Gary as they both fell to the ground and began to wrestle each other. Normally if this was just a prank Gary had done Misty would have just insulted him like she usually did but this practical joke was different, mainly because it wasn't just one prank but the seventh. Misty was sent to stay at the Oaks's for awhile while her older sisters went to a performing arts camp; so far it had only been 3 days since Misty arrived and she was given no mercy from Gary.

"Did you look in a mirror Pumpkin Head!" Gary shouted as he fought Misty back. The two were rolling all over the floor, from pulling each others hair to just plain wrestling.

"Come on you guys, stop it! Stop! What are you doing? Don't bite him Misty!" Ash yelled as he tried to pull the two apart, but to only be shoved away.

"You JERK!"

"Country Bumpkin!"

"Idiot!"

"Tomboy!"

"Get off me!"

"You get off me!"

"I hate you!"

"Same to you!"

Gary and Misty fought as they continued to insult each other.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!" Ms. Ketchum screamed in horror as she entered the room with Ash right behind her. "Gary Oak, get off of her this instant!" Ms. K demanded as she also pulled Gary off of Misty. Soon Ms. K had them both in her grasp, Gary being held back by her left hand and Misty by her right. The two kids glared at each other all the while. Misty's side pony tail was loose with hair sticking in all different directions. Her red shirt crumpled and had a slight tear at the shoulder and her arms were red from where Gary had gripped her. And let's not forget the fact that she was wet because of the prank from earlier. Although Gary's hair looked normal his spiky hair wasn't its perfect normal self. Some of the spikes had become twisted, others slightly flattened, and the rest grouped together. Gary's long sleeved purple shirt was also crumpled with the neck hole more outstretched than it should have been. And if Gary rolled his sleeves up one would see red marks on his arms like Misty's.

"Now you two are _both_ going to explain to me what exactly happened." Ms. K looked at the kids while she scolded them. "And tell me why both the floor and Misty are soaked in water." This time Ms. K. looked solely at Gary with a look that scared Gary in ways he never felt scared before, of course he would never admit that.

"Ms. K I can not tell a lie to you…Misty went swimming in the pond again." Gary said pointing a finger in Misty's direction.

"I did NOT you liar! Delia, HE did this to me!" Misty exclaimed pointing an accusing finger in Gary's direction. Ms. Ketchum sighed as the two kids began to bicker again.

"Alright you two," Ms. K started with a tone that made both Gary and Misty stop and listen. "First, you are both going to change into proper clothes, after you take a shower Misty, and I will talk to the both of you individually. Gary, you go to your room and wait there for me, and don't move a muscle till I come. Misty you come with me so we can get you cleaned up." Ms. K said as she took Misty by the hand toward the bathroom in her room. After Misty was cleaned up and had a new set of dry clothes on she explained to Delia her side of the story, Misty was told to wait in her room while Ms. K went to go hear Gary's side of the story. After about what seemed like forever, Ms. K came back and got Misty and brought her and Gary to the living room.

"Now from what I was told, Gary this is all your doing." Ms. K started standing in front of the children who were sitting on the couch.

"What? But Ms. K-"

"Don't 'but' me Mister." Ms. K interrupted and held out her finger telling Gary to keep quiet. "Now, you have been teasing Misty ever since she got here, and don't think I don't know. Gary Bryson Oak, you should know better than to act like that, and I am very disappointed in you." At this Gary lowered his head a bit. "However, Misty you should also know better than to start a fight, so this is also partly your fault." Misty looked saddened but quickly recovered as she saw Gary stick his tongue out, which got Misty annoyed again.

"Delia, Gary just stuck his tongue at me!"

"Did not!"

"Enough!" Ms. K exclaimed as the two became quiet again. Finally Ms. K told them to both go to their rooms till she came and got them for dinner. Needless to say this was not the first and surely not the last fight these two would have.

Present- The Waterflower House

"I'm home!" Misty called out as she and the rest of the gang started to come in.

"Like finally! We need you like over in the gym pronto Misty!" Lily exclaimed as she dragged her sister by the arm to the gym, along with Ash who Misty had suddenly taken hold of.

"Should we follow?" Tracey asked as he looked at the rest of the group.

"Well-Hey where's Gary?" Richie asked as he looked around.

"He already went ahead, come on!" Melody exclaimed as she grabbed Richie's hand and dragged him along with her as Tracey followed their lead. Soon enough, everyone was in the gym wondering what was going on.

"So what do ya'll need me for?" This was the last place Misty wanted to be when she was finally able to see Ash.

"Like don't give us that Misty." Daisy said as she came up to Misty and Lily. "Like we need your help with Gyarados, he's not listening to what we need him to do for our performance." Soon enough Daisy noticed the guests that were present, especially two in particular. "GARY, ASH! Like it's so nice to see you two again!" Daisy squealed as she grabbed the two into a hug. "Like Misty why didn't you tell us that Gary and Ash were coming over?" Daisy turned back around to face her littlest sister.

"I tried but ya'll were busy with the upcoming show, remember?" Misty rolled her eyes as she waited for her sister to get over the deal with Ash and Gary showing up.

"Oh, and whose this kid?" Daisy looked over at Richie.

"Name's Richie, nice to meet ya!" Richie waved.

"Hello." Daisy chuckled as she finally returned her attention to Misty. "Like anyway Misty, can you and your friends like help us out?" Daisy somewhat pleaded, yet ordered, at the same time.

"*sigh, Daisy, they're here to visit not to work." Misty rubbed her temples in order to keep calm.

"I don't mind, what do I have to do?" Gary came up to Daisy with a small smile.

"Really! Like thanks Gary!" Daisy squealed as she hugged Gary again. "You know, you've like grown a lot since the last time we met." Daisy looked up at Gary.

"Yeah, and you've gotten more pretty too." Gary winked as Daisy giggled.

'_Oh, you've got to be kidding me.'_ Misty mentally, and physically, slapped her forehead as she made her way over to Gyarados and began to undress. Misty had another swimsuit on so she didn't really care that she was taking off her clothes as she soon made her way into the pool. "Hey Gyarados, how was your day today?" Misty smiled and patted Gyarados' head as he came up to her. Finally someone took notice of the trainer and Pokémon.

"Like Misty what are you doing?" Lily shouted over to her sister from the pool's edge.

"Trying to help ya'll out. Now what do you need him to do?"

"Like we need him to do a summersault in the water then jump through those whoops you see up there." Daisy came, Gary following behind as the others took a seat on a nearby bench, except for Ash as he was also by Daisy and Gary.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, like why?" Violet answered from on top of a diving board.

"Geez Gyarados, I guess I'm the only one you listen to huh?" Misty smiled as Gyarados nudged her lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey Mist, you sure you're alright out there?" Ash asked with worry in his voice.

"Don't worry Ash. Didn't I tell you that Gyarados and I are friends now in one of our e-mails?" Misty chuckled as she climbed up onto Gyarados and both dove under the water.

"Like alrighty then." Daisy clicked her tongue as she brought out a small remote and pressed a button that raised the pool to hits full height (A/N: like 15 feet I guess _ idk).

"*whistle, this is some gym, huh?" Richie said to himself in amazement as he saw the pool filled with all kinds of water Pokémon and plants.

"Well duh, this is the Cerulean Gym, you dummy." Melody exclaimed as she gave Richie an 'are-you-stupid-or-what' kind of look.

"Heh, yeah well I didn't know. Ash and Gary never really tell me much about Misty or their relationship with her." Richie shrugged and gave a goofy grin as he returned his focus to the pool.

Misty and Gyarados were under the water waiting for their cue from Daisy. Soon enough Daisy made a gesture with her hand and Misty and Gyarados began to practice the routine. Gyarados started with the summersault in the water and then jumped through the whoops.

"Wow, Misty's doing great with Gyarados, huh?" Ash happily exclaimed with a twinkle of enjoyment in his eyes as he watched Gyarados and Misty doing a backwards summersault.

"Like that's Misty for ya. You know, like she's the only person who Gyarados lets get near him." Daisy smiled and looked at the two boys with pride coming from her eyes as she spoke about her sister.

"You seem to be pretty proud of her, huh Daisy?" Gary smiled as he put an arm around Daisy's shoulder and leaned down so that their eyes were almost level with each other.

"Like of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Daisy exclaimed as she walked over to a platform that brought her up to the pool's edge as Misty and Gyarados resurfaced to take a break.

"So how was that?" Misty wiped some water away from her face.

"It was good, but we still need to practice it some more before the show."

"*sigh, Alright then, so when's the show again?" Misty asked hesitantly fearing what the answer was most likely going to be.

"Like tomorrow night!" Lily and Violet shouted together.

'_Great, my day goes from bad to worse. Will I ever get to spend some time with Ash?'_ "Geez Daisy, why didn't you take care of this sooner? You know I wanted to hangout with Ash tonight." Misty said glumly as she sighed once more.

"Like sorry Baby Sister, but Gyarados is the last Pokémon we had left to like train and you know how he is. Why don't you have your friends like help you out?" Daisy suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure they would love to work after such a long day." Misty mumbled to herself.

"Well like I already talked to Gary and he said he doesn't mind, that and I said he could spend the night if he needed."

"YOU WHAT!" Misty shouted so loudly that everyone could hear, and then some.

"Like calm down Misty, what's the big deal? Like you, Ash, and Gary are all friends, it's not a problem." Daisy put her hands on her hips as she and Misty made their way down on the platform to join the rest of the group.

"Alright well like I'll see ya'll later." Daisy waved bye as her and her other sisters, exited the gym and headed towards the main house.

"So can we go now?" Melody came up to Misty hoping that they were done for the night.

"I wish." Misty sighed as she began to rub her temples again.

"Let me guess, you're stuck working again."

"But of course." Misty dryly joked as she also showed her annoyance.

"So what does that mean?" Ash asked as Tracey and Richie remained quietly, waiting for the answer as Gary was over by the wall of the pool as a Starmie stared back at him.

"Well do you think you guys could stay and help me out, you can spend the night too if you'd like." Misty started apologetically.

"Sure, is everything alright?" Tracey asked.

"Yes and no. See my sisters have a show tomorrow night, and Gyarados still needs to be trained for it, not to mention all the other preparations."

"Well you know I got your back." Melody smiled as she placed a hand on Misty's shoulder, and then looked at the other three boys.

"Well I got nothing better to do, just let me tell my folks real quick." Richie said as he walked away with cell phone in hand.

"You know I'd be glad to help, I'm sort of staying with Professor Oak right now so I'm sure he won't mind." Tracey said happy that he could help his friend.

"Well you know I gotta talk to my mom first." Ash chuckled as he smiled in embarrassment and started to call his mom.

Eventually everyone was back and started helping Misty get ready for the show tomorrow. From cleaning the stands to cleaning the restrooms, everyone was helping out while Misty continued to train Gyarados. Melody and Richie were cleaning the men and women's restrooms, Ash and Tracey took the stands, and Gary was left to clean the floor around the pool.

"That's it Gyarados keep going, you're doing great!" Misty exclaimed from the side of the pool as she now watched Gyarados do the routine by himself.

"So you and Gyarados didn't get along before huh?" Came a voice from behind Misty. Misty turned around to see that Gary was watching Gyarados do a summersault, while he semi-leaned on the mop. Gary never once looked at Misty while he stood next to her.

'_What's he doin?'_ Misty wondered. "Yeah, that was a while back though, we're fine now. Why do you care?" Misty said the last part more defensively, or rather rudely, to Gary.

Gary stood there and looked down at Misty with a raised brow and an annoyed look on his face. "Calm down Pumpkin Head. It was just a question. Geez, talk about an attitude problem." Gary mumbled the last part but Misty still caught it and started to ball her hands into fists in anger.

"I do NOT have an attitude problem and don't tell me to calm down. You're not the boss of me. Now get back to work." Misty huffed as she returned her attention to Gyarados.

"And who said you were the boss of me?"

"Well let's see." Misty started as she returned her focus to Gary as she brought up her hand and started counting off fingers. "One, this is my gym, two, you volunteered to help, three, this is my gym, and four, BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Misty shouted in Gary's face as he leaned back some so that he didn't get the full impact of her yell.

"Well first off," Gary began counting off his finger's just like Misty had just done. "Yes I volunteered but I volunteered to help your sisters, not you, two the gym isn't yours, it's Daisy's still until she signs it over to you, three you repeated yourself so I mention number two again, and four, I don't freaking care." Gary said as he glared at Misty when he was finished.

Misty was really irritated now. Gary just had to mention the fact that the gym was, technically, not hers,_ 'Yet.'_ And basically challenged her authority (A/N: because she still considers the gym to be hers, what can you say she's stubborn).

"W-why you." Misty seethed as she started glaring daggers at Gary.

"Pfft. Don't hurt yourself trying to think of a comeback." Gary patted Misty's head while she slapped his hand away as he started to leave.

"And **where** do you think you're going?" Misty yelled to the back of Gary's head.

"Tch, it's none of your business Pumpkin Head." Gary dropped the mop and never turned around as he answered Misty and walked right out of the gym.

'_That…That prick.'_ Misty watched as Gary left without another word when she noticed that everyone was staring at her.

"Well that was quite a scene." Melody stood against the wall across from Misty with Richie next to her.

"Shut it Mel." Misty said curtly as she began to rub the temples of her head.

"Yeah, well it's not gonna happen." Melody shot back as she began to walk towards Misty with an annoyed look on her face. "Ya'll are done so go ahead to the main house, Ash I assume you can lead the way?" Melody called out to the boys as she grabbed a hold on Misty's wrist.

"Um…yeah, sure. But what about you two?" Ash wasn't not quite sure if he should listen to Melody, but he rather not stay and deal with Misty's wrath either.

"Don't worry about us. I gotta talk to lil'Misty here anyway." Melody smiled back as Ash replied with an "Ok," while the boys started to walk out of the gym and towards the main house. Once Melody thought that the boys were out of hearing range she looked at Misty, who refused to look at her, with an annoyed and pissed off look on her face. "Misty, what is the deal? I thought I told you to apologize, but what do I get instead? More arguing, care to explain." Melody scolded as she placed her hands on her hips.

"…."

"I'm sorry, care to say that again so that I can hear."

"I said that it's not my fault." Misty finally looked at Melody.

"Oh, it's not your fault?" Melody asked with raised eyebrows, like she didn't really know.

"No! It's his!" Misty tried persuading her friend as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is." Melody rolled her eyes. "Look Mist, you gotta calm down. I know you don't care for the guy all that much, but he's taking out some of his time to help you and you just went and blew up at him for no reason." Melody scolded

"I did to have a reason." Misty fought back.

"Oh yeah?" Melody crossed her arms against her chest as she waited for Misty to tell her the reason.

"Yeah, all I did was ask him a simple question and he went and told me that I had anger problems." Misty exclaimed hoping her friend would finally take her side.

"So if I ask Gary, or the other guys, what happened he would say the same thing?"

"Well, um, maybe not like that…" Misty mumbled as she averted her eyes from Melody and scratched the back of her head.

"So what **did** happen?"

"Well, I probably, might have asked Gary a question a little a bit rudely…" Misty looked at Melody who looked back at her as if saying to continue. "And I might have, possibly, yelled at him…" Misty winced as she saw Melody's angry face, if there was one thing Misty hated (A/N: besides bugs, carrots, and peppers) it was Melody when she was angry with her.

"Misty Brooke Waterflower," Melody began as Misty winced again at the use of her whole name. "You are ridiculous, stubborn, and short tempered. Not only did you not apologize, like I told you to, but you also probably made things worse. This **is** your fault, whether you like it or not. Now before this night gets any worse you **are** going to go and apologize to Gary, like you should have done before. Do I make myself clear?" Melody had her hands on her hips once again as she glared at Misty and scolded her like a mother would.

"Yes, I understand."

"Good now let's go, we can finish the rest of the preparations tomorrow, and besides I'm hungry." Melody said as she turned, grabbed Misty's wrist, and lead the both of them to the main house to go eat dinner.

The dinner was awkward. After the boys had found out what rooms they would be staying in they sat at the table with the oldest Waterflower sister and Misty and Melody. The arrangement of the seating could not be anymore tense than it was at that moment, because Misty and Gary had ended up sitting right next to each other, mainly because Melody made Misty, and Gary wasn't able to switch seats with anyone.

"So like how is it going?" Daisy happily chirped not really noticing the tension.

"Oh, it's going good. We just have a little left to do." Melody smiled.

"So where are Violet and Lily?" Tracey asked.

"Oh, like they had dates tonight. Like we switch off every other night so that Misty here, won't like be all alone."

"Daisy!" Misty yelled her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Like what'd I do?" Daisy looked confused not knowing what she had done wrong.

"What? So Pumpkin Head doesn't get asked out by anyone? Well that's surprising." Gary said sarcastically as he took a bite of his food.

"For your information, I do too get asked out, I just don't want to." Misty shot back when Melody suddenly jabbed her in the stomach with her elbow.

"Watch it." Melody whispered as Misty mouthed 'alright' to her.

"So Gary, I hear you're a model? What's it like? I bet you get to travel all over the place." Melody beamed as she was finally able to talk to _'The Gary Oak! Kyaaaah!'_

"Yeah, that's right. Nothing much to say, just a job to earn some extra cash and we mainly work in a studio." Gary kept eating his food while he talked not once taking his eyes away from his plate.

"What do you mean 'just a job to earn some extra cash'? You're Gary Oak, grandson to Professor Oak and brother to May Oak, how could you possible need money when you got it all?"

"Mel!" Misty mouthed shocked that her friend was being so forward and nudged Melody in the arm.

"What?" Melody shrugged back when Gary finally spoke.

"I need money because I don't have any money of my own. The money you're talking about is my family's not mine. So in order to do what I want I need my own cash flow." Gary had stopped eating by the time he started talking again and looked Melody straight in the eyes. Misty was sitting between the two and knew that Gary was obviously not happy. She couldn't even find herself to look at him, so she leaned back in her chair, stiff with her hands in her lap and fiddling with her hands to keep busy from the awkward situation. Misty glanced at Melody, who looked somewhat confused, but that quickly changed.

"Oh, well I somewhat get it then. You want to be able to do whatever you want with no restraints and having your own job allows you to do that." Melody smiled in understanding.

"Yeah, something like that. Daisy I'll be in the living room, I'll wash my own plate." Gary pushed away from the table and grabbed his plate as he disappeared into the kitchen, not wanting to deal with anymore questions from Misty's friend. Soon enough everyone was eating and chatting like normal, Ash grabbing even more food for his plate. Misty however was as stiff as she had been before Gary left. She peeked over her shoulder when he got up and headed to the kitchen wondering what to do. After all, Gary and his family (and his family's money) was something personal. And a taboo topic. Despite Misty and Gary not being on very good terms, as of late, Misty still sympathized with Gary to some extent.

"So Tracey how's the new school?" Daisy asked trying to change the topic of discussion to something more pleasant, knowing also the 'do-not-speak' topic.

"Oh, um, well it's alright. I mean it is school you know." Tracey grinned goofily.

"That's true but you know how Cerulean is about Pallet High." Melody added.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Tracey chuckled

"What are ya'll talkin about?" Richie piped in confused by Melody's statement.

"Oh, well you know that the kids at Cerulean hate ya'lls' guts right?" Melody said nonchalantly as she took a bite of her food.

"Um yeah, I guess. Why?"

"Because Cerulean bashes ya'll all the time, I figured that Pallet did the same thing. Besides, I know that if we ever had someone from Pallet transfer to here that they would probably get shunned to no end." Melody continued to eat her food as she explained to Richie.

"Wow, that's pretty stupid."

"Yeah, well that's the way things are." Misty finally talked after staying quiet for awhile.

"It's probably because we beat them at everything." Ash said as he shoveled food into his mouth.

"What did you say?" Melody and Misty asked in unison.

"N-Nothing!" Ash's eyes went wide as he realized what he had just said.

"That's what I thought." Misty snubbed and began eating her food again.

"Anyway, you're on the basketball team now?" Melody resumed her conversation with Tracey.

"Um, sorta…I'm the manager actually."

"Well at least you're involved in something other than you doodles." Misty chuckled as Tracey's cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"What about you?" Richie asked towards Melody.

"What about me?" Melody returned the question.

"You do anything besides swim?"

"You do anything besides basketball?"

"Maybe."

"Good for you." Melody replied evading the questions with complete ease.

"Hey, at least answer the question." Richie said annoyed.

"I don't have to answer if I don't want to." Melody shot back when suddenly she was jabbed in the stomach by Misty's elbow.

"Be nice." Misty mouthed "Sorry Richie, Mel's used to being the one asking the questions, not the other way around." Misty smiled apologetically.

"It's alright. I like a challenge." Richie smirked as he looked at Melody who had her mouth open to take a bite of food when she stopped after hearing what Richie had said.

"Geez, Rich at least wait till I'm not around." Tracey grimaced as he rubbed his face with his free hand.

"Why Tracey, I have know clue what you're talking about." Richie smiled innocently.

"Hehe, I think it's cute." Daisy added

"We can have seconds right?" Ash asked while he took his last bite of food.

"Of course you dummy, you know you don't have to ask." Misty replied to Ash's question as he began to fill his plate with more food.

Soon enough everyone was done eating. Misty was clearing the plates while Melody helped her out, mostly because she didn't want to be left with Richie. Daisy was chatting with the boys in the living room, mainly talking to Gary and Ash.

"So you two are like doing okay, right?" Daisy asked a hint of concern in her voice.

"Of course we are Daisy, there's no need to worry. We got Ms. K for that." Gary smiled  
"Like I know that, but like I haven't seen or talked to ya'll in awhile, especially you Gary. We like hardly ever hear from you." Daisy scolded as she glared at Gary.

"Hey now, that's Ash's job not mine." Gary put up his hands defensively.

"We're done." Misty said as she and Melody came into the living room. Misty sat on the floor by Ash while Melody took a seat beside Daisy who was sitting on the couch with Tracey. While Gary and Richie were sitting on two of the lounge chairs.

"Like finally, what took you so long?" Daisy huffed as she looked at Misty.

"Daisy, do you even know how many dishes there were? Besides the dishwasher was full!" Misty tried to reason with her sister.

"Like fine, but next time try to be more quick about it."

"Yeah, whatever you say." Misty sighed.

"Well then, like I'm off to bed. Ya'll should too; we got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow." Daisy said as she got up and headed to her room.

"She's got a point." Melody agreed getting up.

"She does?" Ash asked

"Yeah, we gotta get up early." Misty answered looking at Ash with a small smile, almost apologetically.

"How early?" Tracey and Richie both asked

"Six."

"In the afternoon? That's a long time to sleep in." Ash said, confused written all over his face.

"Not in the afternoon Ashy-boy, in the morning." Gary said as he got up from the chair.

"WHAT?" Ash jumped obviously shocked at how early he had to get up.

"Yeah, it's because we still have to finish cleaning, get ready for the show, and not to mention the normal chores around here." Misty shrugged as she got up from beside Ash.

"Well I guess that means we're calling it a night." Tracey sighed as he headed to the stairs where his room was.

"I guess I'll see ya later then." Richie grinned as he walked by Melody.

"Not even in your dreams." Melody huffed as Richie chuckled and followed Tracey.

"I'll see ya in the morning Mist." Ash sighed as he followed the boys.

"You need me to get you an alarm clock Ash?" Misty wondered if her friend was still the same little kid that slept until lunch as she chuckled at the memory.

"Yeah, don't worry bout me. Gary will probably end up waking me up if I'm not awake in time." Ash chuckled as he gave Misty a hug goodnight and headed to the room he would be sleeping in.  
"Well I'm headin' to your room Mist." Melody said as she went up the stairs to where Misty's room was, and where she would be sleeping for the night.

"Right behind you." Misty began to follow Melody.

"No you're not, you still have to apologize for earlier." Melody whispered

"But-"

"No buts, I'll lock you out of the room if you don't."

Misty thought for a while when she was interrupted from her thoughts by Melody again.

"Misty, don't even. I know what you're thinking." Melody glared.

"Fine, you win." Misty caved, knowing that Melody wouldn't let it drop.

"Good." Melody smiled triumphantly as she started heading towards Misty's room once again.

Misty sighed as she turned back around to face Gary. _'Might as well get this stupid thing over with.'_ "Look Gary, I need to talk to you for a sec." Misty began as she rubbed her temples.

"Really now?" Gary said finally taking notice of Misty, since earlier he had been looking at his phone for some reason.

"Sorry, were you in the middle of something?" Misty asked wondering if she had interrupted something when she noticed Gary started to put his phone in his jeans' pocket.

"Nothing important. You were saying?" Gary said trying to get back to what Misty had said earlier.

"Oh, right…." Misty took a while as she sighed and began again. "Well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about before." Misty apologized as she averted her eyes from looking at Gary; instead she chose a spot on the wall right behind him, making it look like she was looking at him.

"Before?" Gary noticed that Misty was trying to avoid his eyes without him noticing. _'Like she ever could.'_

"Yeah, before." Misty repeated

"Which one?"

"Huh?" Misty finally looked at Gary in the eyes. _'Called it.'_ Gary chuckled to himself.  
"Which before? The before at the school or the before that happened in the gym?" Gary crossed his arms across his chest as he leaned back on the chair, almost sitting on the arm of it.

"Um…both?" Misty said not completely sure what Gary was doing as she gave him a confused look. "Does it even matter? I said I was sorry."

"My dear Misty…of course it matters." Gary smiled and Misty knew it was one of his annoyed smiles that was just pretending to be a nice regular smile.

"Look, I said I was sorry ok?" Misty tried to get the conversation done and over with.

"Well I'm not accepting it." Gary shrugged his shoulders

"What? I apologize and you say that you won't accept it?" Misty was almost flabbergasted as she looked at Gary not believing what she had just heard. _'Can he do that?'_

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Because I know that you don't mean it. Honestly at least know what you're apologizing for and that you mean it. Not because someone told you to, it's totally pointless that way." Gary sighed as he began to walk by Misty.  
"Hold up!" Misty grabbed Gary's arm trying to get him to stop.

"What now?" Gary turned his head back as he looked at Misty waiting for her to try to get the last word in, _'Yet again.'_

"How do you know I don't mean it?" Misty looked at Gary with curiosity in her eyes wondering how Gary figured she didn't mean what she said.

"Because Pumpkin Head, you never once looked at me in the eyes when you were "apologizing" to me and I overheard your conversation with Melody. Yeah, you two definitely don't know the meaning of being quiet. That enough of an answer for ya? Good." Gary yanked his arm from Misty's grasp as he began to walk towards the stairs.

"What? Well if you think I'll be apologizing again you're dead wrong Oak! You hear me!" Misty shouted at Gary's retreating figure as Gary just waved the back of his hand in response_. 'That jerk! If he thinks I'm gonna apologize to him again he's full of it. There's no way Melody is holding this against me, I apologized, and he was the one who refused it. That Buttface.'_ Misty reasoned as she made her way to her room.

* * *

**A/N:** AAAAAHHHHHH! I'm SOOOOOOO sorry for taking so long! _ ya'll are so kind to keep reviewing and reading my stories, i just feel awful! But here is the new chap! So I hope ya'll enjoyed it ^_^ Well I am now done with school, (graduated a few weeks ago ^_^) so I will be updating more during the summer. Also for any MtG readers out there, I am in the middle of revamping it. Don't worry, nothing major is going to change, just a few merges of chaps, some grammer tweaks, and other small what not...oh! and a new chap after the revamp is done (: Well, I don't know what else to say. But again hope you enjoyed the new chap and please and thank you for reading and reviewing. ^_^

-Much Love

Calico ;-P


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